A large part of Goines's thirty nine years of life was spent being a successful pimp a heif an operator of corn liquor houses an armed robber and a small time dope dealer. He lived the life of the streets and out of that experience he created Prince the anti-hero of <I>Black Gangster</I>. It's the story of the shocking underworld of black organized crime and the fledgling black 'godfather' who goes from teenager ganglord to powerful Detroit mobster. Like the gangsters of the 1920's he begins with boot-legging and branches out into every known crime.