Bound for Glory

More than anything, Leon Forrest wanted to be recognized as a great writer. Now, ravaged by cancer, he raced death to finish his final novel

BY JONATHAN EIG

Originally published on Chicago Magazine.

The cancer had attacked his body with fury. The tumors in his stomach had grown so large that he could slip his long, too-thin fingers into the tuck of his robe and feel the sickening lumps in his belly, feel the disease forcing itself upon him with the slow but certain coming of winter. So he would pull his fingers out of the robe, put them back on the keys of his electric typewriter, and return to work. More than anything, Leon Forrest wanted to finish another novel before he died. He knew it would be close.

Read the rest on Chicago Magazine.