In college, I remember studying in the library and listening to the giggles of my friend Maria Fisher. She'd be in her own world just hee-hee-heeing. What in the world was so funny? I just had to know. Turns out she was reading a collection of stories by Zora Neale Hurston. Maria even gifted me with a collection of my own.
It wasn't until later in life that I picked up a copy of THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD. Oh lordy, what a delicious story. And when Oprah made this masterpiece into a movie--I made every house visitor sit and watch that movie. I was determined to make everyone fall in love with Zora as much as Maria and me.
A couple of years ago, I tinkered with a picture book biography about her. I learned so much about the storyteller from Eatonville, Florida. I read of the criticisms she faced and how she dealt with it. And even how she died broke and was buried in an unmarked grave. There's so much about this folklorist that even children should know!
Therefore, I'm so thrilled to announce that the picture book bio will one day be published.
