John Bland

AUTHOR - PLAYWRIGHT - SONGWRITER - ARTIST - CITY PLANNER

John Robert Bland, son of Alberta Earnestine Smith and World War II Veteran Willie Ed Perse. Born in a house on Route 330 in Coffeeville, Mississippi near the county seat Water Valley.

After a brief stop in Peoria, Illinois, same block as Richard Pryor, the family settled on near westside Chicago. Their addresses numbered twelve, including the longest tenancy in the Henry Horner Homes housing projects. John Robert Bland attended nine Chicago public schools.

B.A. Behavioral Science, Notre Dame de Namur University. (CA)

M. U. P. Urban Planning San Jose State University (CA)