William Hector Duhart was born in Florida on January 30, 1921. He had the distinction of being only one of two Black authors to attend the Handy Writers Colony, opened in 1950 by Lowney and Harry Handy and novelist James Jones in Marshall, Illinois, which supported numerous young writers in the 1950s and early 60s. Duhart worked at the Colony on The Deadly Pay‐Off—begun in Wisconsin State Prison where he served time for assault and armed robbery—which was published by Gold Medal Books in 1958. He published one other novel and a handful of short stories, and copyrighted at least six screenplays that were never produced. Duhart died at age 81 in Illinois on January 14, 2003.