Zora Neale Hurston’s Hometown Celebrates The 75th Anniversary Of Her Classic Book

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)

From the Miami Herald, about the late libertarian Republican anthropologist, folklorist, and author: "For her epic 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston turned to home, inspired by Eatonville’s beauty, flaws, characters and spirit. Now the small Central Florida town is giving back, celebrating its most famous daughter and the 75th anniversary of the book’s publication. The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community is hosting a two-day Their Eyes Were Watching God Conference Thursday and Friday in the town just outside Orlando, the setting for the empowering story of Janie Crawford’s journey to find and make peace with herself."

Eatonville is one of America's oldest incorporated black towns: "Their Eyes, which Hurston wrote while on a Guggenheim Fellowship in Haiti, is regarded as a seminal work in American literature, and was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 Best English-language novels written from 1923 to 2005. Hurston, who was also a folklorist and anthropologist, died penniless in 1960 in Fort Pierce [Florida]. Her unmarked grave was discovered by author Alice Walker 13 years later, reviving interest in Hurston. Their Eyes, which had been out of print for decades, was re-issued in 1978. Its 75th anniversary is being marked in cultural circles across the nation by performances, panel discussions and a radio adaptation of the novel that can be heard and downloaded at thegreenespace.org."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/18/3008836/zora-neale-hurstons-florida-hometown.html#storylink=cpy