David Hilliard diploma and skills had a hard time finding jobs. He worked many odd jobs including: cleaning up after skilled laborers, a tile chipper, working at canneries, and a car salesman. David and Patricia Hilliard had three children: Patrice, Darryl, and Dorian. They named their daughter after Patrice Munsel, one of David's favorite singers. Dorian was named after Dorian Grey, the main character in Oscar Wilde's famous novel "the Picture of Dorian Grey." During their early married life David faced alcohol addiction and a lack of anger management. During his involvement with the Black Panthers David Hilliard met Brenda Presley and
The Picture of Dorian Gray made excisions of some of the most controversial material when revising and lengthening the story for book publication the following year. The longer and revised version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" published in book form in 1891 featured an aphoristic preface—a defence of the artist's rights and of art for art's sake—based in part on his press defences of the novel the previous year. The content, style, and presentation of the preface made it famous in its own right, as a literary and artistic manifesto. In April 1891, the publishing firm of Ward, Lock and Company, who had distributed