Because there were no adequate medical facilities for African-Americans, Haskins was born at home, where, appropriately, he locates the literary lessons of his early childhood. Haskins recalled for
SAAS that a strong tradition of storytelling existed in his family and among his relatives. "My Aunt Cindy was the greatest storyteller who ever lived," he declared, describing her mixed-up versions of traditional folktales as ones in which Hansel and Gretel meet the Three Little Pigs. Haskins credits these stories with stimulating an interest in the unseen, complex "goings on under the surface of the real world." Among these interests was Voodoo, which the Haskins family regarded with skepticism, but which was a real part of everyday life for many people in the black community. Like other interests he developed as child, Haskins continued to think about the belief and practice of such mysticism, and later wrote a book about the subject.
Once he began reading, however, Haskins encountered obstacles to the pursuit of his interests. "There was not a lot of money for books, and the Demopolis Public Library was off limits to blacks," Haskins remembered in SAAS. His mother managed to get him an encyclopedia, one volume at a time, from a local supermarket.
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