J. California Cooper

Joan Cooper (November 10, 1931 in Berkeley, California – September 20, 2014 in Seattle, Washington), known by her pen name, J. California Cooper, was an American playwright and author. She wrote 17 plays and was named Black Playwright of the Year in 1978 for her play "Strangers".
Life and career.
Alice Walker has said of Cooper:
It was at the encouragement of Walker that Cooper turned from her claim to fame in the theater and started writing short stories. Her first collection "A Piece of Mine" was published in 1984 by Wild Trees Press, the publishing company founded by Walker. Two other story collections followed, before the release of her first novel, "Family", in 1991. Cooper wrote "Funny Valentines", which later was turned into a 1999 TV movie starring Alfre Woodard and Loretta Devine.
Awards Cooper won include the American Book Award (for her 1986 short-story collection "Homemade Love"), a James Baldwin Writing Award and a Literary Lion Award from the American Library Association.
She died in Seattle, Washington, in 2014 at the age of 82.