Seth Morgan (novelist)

Seth Morgan (September 24, 1949 – October 17, 1990) was an American novelist, known primarily for his autobiographical novel Homeboy.

Born in New York City, Morgan was the son of prominent socialite and art collector Lady Sarah Consuelo Spencer-Churchill and Edwin Dickinson Morgan Jr., a descendant of J. P. Morgan. His childhood was marked by privilege and wealth, but also by parental neglect and substance abuse issues. He attended Groton School and Harvard University, but dropped out of the latter.

Morgan’s life was characterized by hedonism, drug addiction, and criminal activity. He was a fixture of the San Francisco counterculture scene in the 1960s and 1970s, associating with figures like Janis Joplin and Charles Bukowski. He worked a variety of odd jobs, including as a longshoreman, and spent time in prison for drug-related offenses.

Homeboy, published in 1990, is a largely autobiographical account of a wealthy, educated man’s descent into the criminal underworld of San Francisco. The novel received critical acclaim for its gritty realism and unflinching portrayal of addiction. It was hailed as a significant contribution to American literature and earned comparisons to the works of Hubert Selby Jr.

Shortly after the publication of Homeboy, Morgan died in a motorcycle accident in New Orleans. He was 41 years old. Despite his relatively short life and single published novel, Seth Morgan has gained a cult following and is remembered as a talented and tragic figure of the American literary underground.