Their first novels are Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain, respectively, while Richard Wright's The Outsider is his second. All three writers were members of the Harlem Renaissance. Baldwin's novel is a semi-autobiographical account of a young black man's struggle for freedom in the South during the early years of the civil rights movement. The story focuses on an aspiring musician named Johnny Carter who lives with his family in North Carolina. When Johnny's father is killed by police after he helps a stranger escape from jail, he decides to flee to Philadelphia, where he knows someone will take him in. However, white society rejects him, so he becomes an invisible man among men. In addition to being a powerful work of art that has influenced many authors including Toni Morrison and Charles Dickens, The Invisible Man has been cited as an influence by musicians such as Prince and Tupac Shakur. Baldwin published his first novel at the age of 23. He went on to become one of the most influential black writers of the 20th century, with topics such as racism, violence, and self-determination being major themes in his work. He died at the age of 62 after a long battle with cancer.