Ernest Gaines: accomplished African-American authorEvery person has different challenges and journeys that make them unique. These elements affect the way people think, speak, and act in different situations. Various experiences in an author's life will influence their works and help them create their stories. A character or the plot of the story may resemble people and events present in an author's life. Ernest Gaines became an accomplished author and the person he is today because of his life experiences during his childhood, education, and writing career. During Ernest Gaines' childhood, there were many factors that made him an accomplished author, the most important of which was the environment in which he lived. Gaines was born on a plantation in Louisiana on January 15, 1933. In many novels, Gaines chose as his setting the fictional town of Bayone, Louisiana, based on where he lived until he was fifteen. . When his parents Manuel and Adrienne Gaines separated, Gaines lived with his aunt Augustine Jefferson. In some of his novels, such as A Lesson B...