Daddy Was a Number Runner, with fellow piano players Johnnie Johnson and Jimmy Vaughn. Love suffered a stroke on Thanksgiving of 2009, followed by a heart attack on Christmas. He died in hospice care on February 28, 2010, after having been ill for some years with arthritis and dementia. He was survived by his wife Joyce Love; son Greyling Love; daughters Cheryl Love, Joann Johnson, Gail Love and Mia Love; sister Mildred Chavers; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Clayton Love Clayton D. Love Jr. (November 16, 1927 – February 28, 2010) was an American blues pianist, who led his own band, the Shufflers, in the 	Clayton Love
27360957	Daddy Was a Number Runner Daddy Was a Number Runner Daddy Was a Number Runner is the first novel by Louise Meriwether. It was published by Prentice Hall, with a foreword by James Baldwin, in 1970, and is now considered a modern classic. It depicts a poor black family in Harlem during the Great Depression in the first half of the 20th century, as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old African-American girl who has one brother who wants to be a chemist and another who is a gang member. Reception. Paule Marshall said of the book: [Its] greatest achievement lies in 	Daddy Was a Number Runner
27360958	the sense of black life that it conveys: vitality and force behind the despair. It celebrates the positive values behind the black experience: the tenderness and love that often lie underneath the abrasive surfaces of relationships … the humor that has long been an important part of the black survival kit, and the heroism of ordinary folk … a most important novel. It was an Essence" Book Club Choice in December 2002. Daddy Was a Number Runner Daddy Was a Number Runner is the first novel by Louise Meriwether. It was published by Prentice Hall, with a foreword by James Baldwin, in