US author Harry Crews, best known for his gritty tales of the rural South has died aged 76 in Gainesville, Florida.

His ex-wife, Sally Ellis Crews, said he had suffered from neuropathy.

Mr Crews, author of 17 novels and numerous short stories, taught graduate and undergraduate fiction writing workshops at the University of Florida from 1968 until his retirement in 1997.

He cut a colourful figure, shaving his head or having a mohawk style.

Mr Crews once wrote: “A writer’s job is to get naked, to hide nothing, to look away from nothing... To not blink, to not be embarrassed by it or ashamed of it. Strip it down and let’s get to where the blood is, where the bone is.”

He was a native of Georgia but had lived in Florida for many years.

Born on June 7, 1935 in Bacon County, Georgia, he was the son of a sharecropper. His father died in his sleep before his son was two.

In his book A Childhood, Mr Crews writes about growing up in poverty and without books, except for the Bible.

“When I was a boy, stories were conversation and conversation was stories. For me it was a time of magic.”

Mr Crews moved to Jacksonville when he was young and joined the Marine Corps after graduating from high school in 1953.

Mr Crews was married to Sally Ellis Crews twice; she has his power of attorney and said they remained great friends after their second divorce in 1972.

The couple had two children: Patrick, who drowned as a child in 1964, and Byron, who lives in Ohio.

Mr Crews is survived by his son, ex-wife and grandson. He did not want a funeral service or a viewing, said his ex-wife, adding that he wanted to be cremated.