Gil-Scott Heron was a man of many fragments, and Marcus Baram is intent on unearthing all of them:

Gil did marathon writing sessions, staying up for days, taking a break every once in a while to play cards in the student union. Again, he would stop by his friend Ade’s room for late-night sessions to talk about the book. He spent a few weeks questioning Ade about one of his characters: ‘He’s a student leader. What would he say?’ Ade gave him answers and realized only later, after reading new chapters, that the character was based on him.

You can find the rest down at The Believer Logger.