“Live Fast, Die Young, And Have A Good-Looking Corpse!”

One of Chicago’s queer Black writers left his mark on his history but has fallen into obscurity. 

by Josh Nava | February 21, 2025   

CHICAGO- “Live fast, die young, leaving a good-looking corpse,” is a phrase that has been in the public lexicon for quite some time, but where did it originate? It came from a long-forgotten closeted Black writer from South Side Chicago and the phrase appears in his 1947 debut novel, “Knock on Any Door.” However, who was this mysterious writer, and did they have an impact beyond providing a popular phrase to the public? 

The answer to both questions is yes and yes. 

This long-forgotten writer is Willard Motley. Motley was born on July 14, 1909, in Chicago. His mother, Florence was fourteen years old when she was pregnant with him, and his father was a man named Bryant, a thirty-six-year-old Pullman porter. Florence and Bryant married to avoid Motley being born out of wedlock, but their marriage was later annulled. Motley’s childhood was strange as he grew up believing his grandparents were his parents, his mother was his sister, and his uncle, Archibald was his brother. Florence and Bryant later had another child, Rita, who was raised as a child of Motley’s grandparents. 

The Motleys lived in the Englewood neighborhood in South Side Chicago. The neighborhood during their time was a White middle-class community. Motley as he grew up was spurred by Archibald, who later became an artist, to submit a short story to the Black newspaper, the Chicago Defender. Motley was only thirteen but was hired as a weekly columnist and was one of the many writers who used the famous pseudonym of Bud Billiken. The Chicago Defender used the Bud Billiken pseudonym for its writers and founded the famous Bud Billiken Picnic and Parade that still occurs to this day. 

Motley continued writing for the Chicago Defender until he graduated from Englewood High School in 1929. Motley had a desire to pursue higher education but could not because of the Great Depression. He wanted to go to the University of Wisconsin but instead decided to travel around the United States. He went to New York in 1930 and visited the west coast in 1936. He held odd jobs to support himself. 

Motley returned to Chicago in 1939 and lived in the Maxwell Street neighborhood. He wrote for Hull House Magazine after co-founding it and later wrote for the Works Project Administration’s Federal Writers Project. Motley gained fame when “Knock on Any Door” was published in 1947. The novel tells the tale of Nick Romano, an Italian American who turns to crime to escape poverty but becomes a cop killer. Motley’s debut received positive reviews for its gritty and naturalistic style, but many noticed blatant queer aspects in the novel. 

In “Knock on Any Door,” Nick has sex with gay men for money, and one of his clients cares for him. Furthermore, Motley’s descriptions of men border on erotic and show an obvious appreciation for the male form. These aspects of the novel were toned down for its 1949 film adaptation by Nicholas Ray. It starred John Derek as Nick Romano and Humphrey Bogart played a supporting role.  

Motley followed up his debut with “We Fished All Night” in 1951. The novel was about three World War II veterans and received a frosty reception. He left the States and moved to Mexico City in 1952 where he adopted a son. Motley’s next work was a sequel to “Knock on Any Door” called “Let No Man Write My Epitaph.” The novel was published in 1958 and received a film adaptation in 1960. James Darren, Jean Seberg, and Ella Fitzgerald starred in the adaptation.  

In the years following, Motley worked on his final book, “Let Noon Be Fair,” but was unable to see it published as he died on March 4th, 1965, from gangrene. Motley was only fifty-two years old and “Let Noon Be Fair” was published posthumously. The novel was about a Mexican town and the effect of American tourism on it. By the time, Motley died he was poverty-stricken, his fame already waned, and his works received less and less positive reception.  

However, Motley stood the test of time for being an outlier among his Black contemporaries. Motley’s characters were heterosexual White working-class people while his peers' works featured Black characters. Naturally, Motley caught flak for his deviations from the norm, but he wrote what he wanted and weathered the attacks he received with some of the criticism being homophobic.  

Motley is obscure but has endured and garnered modern praise and accolades. Motley was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame in 2014. The Northern Illinois University and the Chicago Public Library both have collections of Motley’s correspondences, diaries, manuscripts, and notes. Some of the archived material in the collections confirms Motley was a closeted gay man with his sexual encounter with a man written about in his diary. 

Additionally, Motley is included in Anthony Slate’s “Lost Gay Novels” published in 2003. Slate’s novel is a reference guide for forgotten queer fiction from the early to mid-twentieth century. Other works like 2009’s “The Golden Age of Gay Fiction” feature discussions of Motley’s work and other queer writers from the early to late twentieth century. St. Sukie de la Croix’s “Chicago Whispers” provides a history of queer people in Chicago before the Stonewall Riots with Motley’s life and work getting referenced.  

Motley may have lost his fame during his lifetime and not received much discussion but that is changing with queer writers and scholars taking another look at him. Motley is a writer who is more than deserving to be rediscovered and reclaimed, and to have his works reprinted for audiences to show that queer people existed back then and did have an impact. Only time will tell what Motley’s reputation will be in the coming years, but it seems like he will be finally getting his due.