I am gut punched to hear that author James Sallis (December 1944 – January 27, 2026) has died. James was the closest thing to a writing mentor I had. He was a friend, and certainly one of the most talented writers I’ve ever known.

He lived in New Orleans when I moved there and I met him at a book signing. Though he was already pretty famous in literary circles, he was incredibly down to earth, and he invited me to his house for several literary parties he and his wife, Karyn, threw. Though at that time I’d only published a few short stories, he spoke to me as a peer.

He asked about my work and it was clear he truly gave a damn. Maybe a little of it was that we were both country boys from Arkansas. Later, he moved to Arizona but we stayed in touch with periodic emails and messages. Man, he was… a one-of-a-kind sort of guy.

Jim did write science fiction, mostly short stories. That’s where he got his start. Quite a bit of his poetry also contained SF or at least speculative fiction elements. Most would probably consider him a literary writer but to me he was just a writer — of all kinds of things, poetry, mystery, essays, music criticism, biography, unclassifiable.

His work often had non-linear aspects, which sometimes might have been hard to follow but which always connected the reader to the immediate moment, to the story as it was revealed. His work was just incredibly real, and often surreal at the same time. I’ve read about 3/4ths of his published material and have more on my TBR shelves. He was not a particularly prolific author.

Since more people recognize film than writing, many might know him as the author of Drive, which was made into a movie starring Ryan Gosling. Here’s what I had to say about the book:

This is a noir novella, and is a masterpiece. Some folks are troubled by the fact that sections are told out of linear sequence. I didn’t find that a problem. I think it’s one of the best noir books ever.

He wrote a wonderful sequel called Driven.

What should have been made into movies, or maybe even a TV series (maybe it still will be) is his “Insect title” series of noir mysteries starring Lew Griffin, an African American professor and writer who moonlights as a detective. To me, Griffin is the most “real” detective in all noir fiction.

The series consists of:

The Long-Legged Fly, 1992
Moth, 1993
Black Hornet, 1994
Eye of the Cricket, 1998
Bluebottle, 1999 (My favorite)
Ghost of a Flea, 2001

Each is a wonderfully constructed gem full of life’s troubles and occasional joys. The mysteries in these books are good but they’re not truly the heart of the tales. Griffin’s struggles with alcoholism and his relationships are the center.

Some of Jim’s other works include:

1) Cypress Grove, the start of a new mystery series with another southern detective, this one white and more rural. It features a detective simply known as Turner. Cripple Creek followed, also excellent, and there’s a third book called Salt River, which I haven’t read yet though I have a copy. I liked the Griffin books a little better but these are great reads, and focus more on the mystery itself.

2). A City Equal to my Desire: These are literary short stories, which means they don’t always get tied up nice and tidy, but the imagination at work here is amazing. And the imagery is both disturbing and profound. An excellent collection.

3). Willnot: A character driven mystery of great intensity. Sallis’s voice is so smooth and powerful that you cannot look away. It really hits you between the eyes with a barrage of empathy, melancholy, joy, longing, and every other rich experience we are capable of.

4). Others of My Kind: Fascinating character study of a woman who was kidnapped as a child and kept mostly in a box for two years. It’s a short novel, a quick read, beautifully written.

5). I always gave Jim’s poetry collections 5 stars: Here are my two favorites: Sorrow’s Kitchen, and Black Night’s Gonna Catch Me Here.

6). My favorite work by him, though, is Gently into the Land of the Meateaters: An amazing collection of nonfiction essays, many of which deal with writing and the writer’s life. There are some brilliant touches here and a lot of them are biographical. Sallis does philosophy without it seeming like philosophy.

I just got a message from Jim a few months back but he didn’t reveal to me any health issues, though he’d apparently been ill quite a while. I don’t yet know the cause of death.

Whatever it was, I hate it. As always in hindsight, I wish I’d contacted him more. I wish he was still here so I could tell him.

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Charles Gramlich administers The Swords & Planet League group on Facebook, where this post first appeared. His last article for us was The Sword & Sorcery of Robert Holdstock. See all of his recent posts for Black Gate here.