Born in 1933 on a sugar cane plantation in Oscar, Louisiana, Gaines was the eldest of several children, and grew up in an extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins who all lived in the "quarter" behind the main plantation house. "We didn't have running water, and my responsibility from the time I was eight years old was to get the water," the author recalled to Scott Jaschik in the Chronicle of Higher Education. At nine he was digging potatoes for fifty cents a day, and "by the time I was eleven or twelve I was going out with my father to saw wood." Gaines was a lively, intelligent child, and enjoyed learning even though his schooling was limited to the five or six months between harvest and planting seasons. Recognized throughout the plantation for his aptitude, Gaines was often asked to read and write letters for many of the older people in the community.
Many of these people also came to visit his great-aunt, Augusteen Jefferson, who cared for Gaines and his siblings even though she had been disabled since birth. Unable to walk, Gaines's Aunt Augusteen crawled to get around; she cooked, cleaned, and even tended the garden.
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