Joan Cooper (November 10, 1931 – September 20, 2014), known by her pen name, J. California Cooper, was an American playwright and author. She wrote 17 plays and was named Black Playwright of the Year in 1978 for her play Strangers. Cooper also received an American Book Award in 1989, a James Baldwin Writing Award (1988), and a Literary Lion Award (1988) from the American Library Association. Source: Wikipedia (en)