Toni Morrison was born and raised in Lorain, Ohio. "Only The Bluest Eye, my first book, is set in Lorain. In the others I was more interested in mood than in geography.... [However], no matter what I write, I begin there. I may abandon this focus at some point, but for now it's the matrix for me."¹

"I never lived in a black neighborhood. Poor neighborhoods, yes, black neighborhoods, no. People in small Midwestern towns came from everywhere. There were Germans, Irish, Afro-Americans, Eastern Europeans, Italians, Greeks. In a sense, we were integrated. We all went to the same school. However, uncrossed ethnic and religious lines existed--Czech social clubs, Italian social clubs, groups attached to particular churches. Blacks were frequently barred from various spots in town, including one of the municipal parks that had a lake for swimming. So we went to another, prettier lake, a secret place...