Title: Shaft (novel)
Content:  Shaft is a 1970 detective novel by Ernest Tidyman. The novel debuted the character John Shaft and inspired both the 1971 film Shaft and its sequels.
Title: John Shaft
Content: Shaft (1970) ; Shaft Among the Jews (1972) ; Shaft's Big Score (1972) ; Shaft Has a Ball (1973) ; Goodbye, Mr. Shaft (1973) ; Shaft's Carnival of Killers (1974) ; The Last Shaft (1975) - published only in England ; Shaft's Revenge (2016) (written by David F. Walker) The franchise began with the novel Shaft, which provides a much more detailed backstory for John Shaft than the one seen in the film series. All of the books in the original 1970s series are credited solely to Shaft creator Ernest Tidyman, but from Shaft's Big Score onward Tidyman wrote them with assistance from ghostwriters Robert Turner and Philip Rock. 
Title: Shaft (novel)
Content:  Author Ernest Tidyman was at the time trying to transition from the field of journalism to fiction, after his first novel, Flower Power, had little success. Editor Alan Rinzler, who had worked with Claude Brown on the bestselling Manchild in the Promised Land, wanted a book which would take the gritty realism of Manchild in the Promised Land and bring it into the mystery genre. At the recommendation of literary agent Ronald Hobbs, noted as one of the few black literary agents in the 1960s, Tidyman was commissioned to write Shaft in 1968. He started writing the novel in late 1968, finished it in 1969, and immediately started shopping the book's film rights in Hollywood, even though it would not see publication for nearly another year. Shaft was first published in a hardback edition in April 1970.
Title: John Shaft
Content:  John Shaft is a fictional character created by author/screenwriter Ernest Tidyman. He was portrayed by Richard Roundtree in the original 1971 film and in its four sequels, Shaft's Big Score! (1972), Shaft in Africa (1973), Shaft (2000) and Shaft (2019), with Samuel L. Jackson portraying his son, named John Shaft II, in Shaft (2000) and Shaft (2019), and Jessie Usher portraying the character's grandson (named John Shaft Jr.) in Shaft (2019). The blurb on the paperback on which the original film is based states Shaft is "Hotter than Bond, cooler than Bullitt."
Title: Shaft (2019 film)
Content:  Shaft is a 2019 American action comedy film directed by Tim Story and written by Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher, Regina Hall, and Richard Roundtree. It is the fifth film in the Shaft series and a direct sequel to the 2000 film with the same title. The film was released theatrically in the United States on June 14, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures, and digitally in international markets on June 28, 2019, by Netflix. It received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office.
Title: Shaft (1971 film)
Content:  Shaft is a 1971 American crime action film directed by Gordon Parks and written by Ernest Tidyman and John D. F. Black. It is an adaptation of Tidyman's novel of the same name and is the first entry in the Shaft film series. The plot revolves around a private detective named John Shaft who is hired by a Harlem mobster to rescue his daughter from the Italian mobsters who kidnapped her. The film stars Richard Roundtree as Shaft, alongside Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John and Lawrence Pressman. The film has themes of Black Power movement, race, masculinity, and sexuality. It was filmed in Harlem, Greenwich Village, 
Title: Shaft (2019 film)
Content: Samuel L. Jackson as John Shaft, a private investigator and former NYPD detective, father of J.J. Shaft and son of John Shaft, Sr. ; Jessie T. Usher as J.J. Shaft, an FBI computer analyst, estranged son of John Shaft and grandson of John Shaft, Sr., who he meets for the first time since he was a baby. Jordan Preston Carter portrays a young J.J. ; Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, Sr., legendary private investigator, father of John Shaft II and grandfather of J.J. Shaft ; Regina Hall as Maya Babanikos, J.J.'s mother and John Shaft's ex-wife ; Alexandra Shipp as Sasha Arias, medical doctor, JJ's female best friend and love interest. Nyah Marie Johnson portrays a young Sasha ; Matt Lauria as Major Gary Cutworth, Karim's partner in the rehab centre, 
Title: Shaft (1971 film)
Content:  Shaft initially had two sequels called Shaft's Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973), with "neither capturing the soul of the original", according to author Howard Hughes. An additional sequel, and part remake, was released in 2000, also called Shaft, starring Samuel L. Jackson as John Shaft II, the nephew of John Shaft. The earlier sequels were followed by a short-lived 1973–1974 television series titled Shaft on CBS. Richard Roundtree was the only person to ever play John Shaft, appearing in all four films and the television series. Ernest Tidyman wrote six Shaft novel sequels, including Goodbye, Mr Shaft and Shaft's Carnival of Killers. In February 2015, TheWrap reported that Shaft would be rebooted by New Line Cinema with John Davis producing the new film. In July 2015, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow would 
Title: Shaft (2000 film)
Content:  Shaft is a 2000 American action crime film directed by John Singleton and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Vanessa L. Williams, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Dan Hedaya, Busta Rhymes, Toni Collette and Richard Roundtree. Although the film shares the same title as the 1971 film, it is a contemporary sequel with Jackson's John Shaft character being related to the earlier films' Shaft. The film received generally positive reviews and opened at the number-one position at the box office when it debuted June 16, 2000.
Title: Shaft in Africa
Content:  Shaft in Africa is a 1973 film directed by John Guillermin, and is the third film of the Shaft series, starring Richard Roundtree as John Shaft. Stirling Silliphant wrote the screenplay. The cost went up to $2,142,000, but the gross fell to $1,458,000. MGM quickly sold the property to television, but the television series was cancelled after just seven episodes.

Question: Who is the author of Shaft?
Answer: Ernest Tidyman.
Ernest Ralph Tidyman.