John Henrik Clarke

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"When a griot dies, it is like having a library burned to the ground," said historian Leonard Jeffries after the passing of John Henrik Clarke on July 16. "But Dr. Clarke was a master griot, and so our loss is immeasurable." Clarke's death unleashed outpouring of praise for the 83-year-old scholar and for his peerless and inestimable contributions to black studies and Pan-Africanist thought. There is much to acclaim: prolific research that focused on the lives of such leaders as Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Cheikh Anta Diop; the wise and urgent counsel of his many lectures; and more than 25 books that he wrote or edited, revealing every sinew of African and African-American history, culture and politics.

But the force that propelled Clarke the academic -- his commitment to restoring the missing pages of history -- has at times eclipsed the dedication and imagination that he displayed as an author and champion of fiction.

First, Clarke was a poet, then he was an author, and then, when his own muse commuted from fiction to history and criticism, he became a generous, insightful editor, gathering short-story writers -- well known and yet to be known -- into anthologies through which a canon …