zora bulletin board 1.0 beta 1

Kip,
I first have to tell you that I cannot believe you are here at Ohio State University, in fact after browsing through the Zora Web site I am really trying to catch my breath... Ok, I'm sounding dramatic and I'm not explaining myself, so I'll go ahead and ask my question.
I am interested in work by Zora Neale Hurston that has been dramatized. I am a second year grad student at Ohio State University, in the theatre department. I'm studying acting. I am in the process of doing thesis research. For a Research Methods class I need to find 3 companies/artists (including Zora) who have dramatized her work. I am especially interested in (you guessed it) Their Eyes Were Watching God. I know George Wolfe at the Public Theatre directed some of her work (that I believe he put together) Do you know of where I could find information about her work that has been made into theatre? I will be checking the library tomorrow. I know that Oprah Winfrey bought the rights to Their Eyes Were Watching God. Do you know if she has any plans to turn it into a film like she did with Beloved?

I do need some information on this by this Wednesday if you have it. If you can't get in touch with me by Wednesday just get in touch as soon as you can, I would be EXTREMELY grateful.

One more thing. I'm in the main stage show running at OSU right now. If you are interested in coming I could reserve you a complimentary ticket at the Box Office. I play the role of Varya in Chekov's Cherry Orchard. If you are interested please email me back and I'll save you the ticket. This is the last week of the run - Tues- Sat 8:00 pm, and an additional matinee at 2:00 pm on Sunday. Perhaps after the show you could come down to the Greenroom (dressing room) and say hello.

Thanks again for the amazing web site.

Be well,
Anike

Kip,
I would like to commend you on your Zora Neale Hurston website. It is
by far one of the most complete and up to date that I have come across.
However, I have a question about Zora and I was hoping that you could
point me in the right direction. I am a senior English major at
Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Va, and I am working on my
senior project. My project is a novel in which I am incorporating the
experiences of African-American gay writers and their experiences with
racism in America into one of the characters in my novel. Zora is less
known for her homosexuality, and the information that I have found about
that subject is sketchy at best. Could you please point me in the right
direction where I could find more information about this less-known
aspect of her life? I would really appreciate it.
   Thanks,
     Tenise Monterio '98
     Randolph-Macon Woman's College
     tmmonterio@rmwc.edu

I am writing a paper about Zora Neale Hurston's short story, "Conscience of
the Court"

If you have read this story, it hope you can help me with a few questions I
have. You sound like you know everything about this extraordinary woman and
her works.

I just want to know if I am on the right track and have the general idea
about the story.
I. Laura Lee Loves Celestine, they depend on each other and will do anything
for one another
II. Laura Lee starts to doubt Celestine. She thinks that celestine was not
there for her when she went to trial/jail. Does not understand why
Celestine would get a loan.
III. Laura Lee realizes that celestine had gotten a loan for Laura Lee.
Celestine scarified her property for Laura Lee. Once she finds out that
Celestine has done this, she has more respect for Celestine and thinks of
her as a god or saint. she compares her doubting Celestine to Apostle Peter
doubting Jesus. Peter denied Jesus 3 times in one day. Laura Lee did the
same.
IV. Called "conscience of the Court" because Laura Lee's actions taught the
judge the values of love. Laws are the duty to protect women and children.
She was justified by law by the Anglo-Saxon tradition, and the law of
humanity. People should protect those they love and their belongings. The
rights of an individual must be protected.(love)

I mostly want to discuss and compare Celestine and Laura Lee to God and a
disclipe or servant, and Mr. Beasely( the man who loans money to Celestine)
to satan. Do you think this is too broad of a subject or am I implying too
much? Please let me know soon. Hopefully this weekend!
Thank you, Your opinions are much appreciated!

10/29/97
LHurston@aol.com
Subject: Update

Kip
Please update your Zora web site to reflect my new position as a sociology
instructor at Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College in Waterbury,
Connecticut. I am no longer at Ohio State.
Thanks
Lucy

My partner and I are in the process of developing a project which would
involve the development and running of a 30 room Bed & Breakfast Inn
called the Harlem Renaissance Inn, to be located in central harlem. We
are going to name one of the bedrooms in the inn for Zora Neale Hurston.
I would like to gather more information and possible pictures of Ms.
Hurston. One of the unique features of the inn will be that visitors to
this room will have the opportunity to take one of her works as a
keepsake of their visit. I can be reached at the following address
Ms. Vivian Jackson
HRI Group, Inc.
348 Lenox Ave, #2N
New York, NY 10027
Fax/phone: 212-426-4490
e-mail: Vjackson@ix.netcom.com

Dear Kip:
I forgot to mention to you yesterday that Zora is being honored on November
13 at the Smithsonian with the unveiling of a stamp to be issued by Ghana and
Uganda, and possibly Haiti. We hope this is a first step towards getting this
country to honor her also. Maybe when you have time, I can update you on the
US process for stamps and enlist your aid and that of your readers.

Thanks.
Kind regards,
Victoria Sanders

I'm a graduate student in the department of Cultural
Anthropology at Duke University who is interested in Hurston's
ethnographic films. If you can give me some titles and
possible suggestions for where they can be found, I would
greatly appreciate it.

Nichole Green

I am a member of Black Moon Theatre Troupe based on the campus of James
Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. I am in the process of writing
a one woman/person show. Right now I am researching some styles and
approaches. Did Ms. Hurston ever do any one woman shows if so what are
the titles?
I will appriciate any more info you would like to send...

Thank you,
Tanika Gatling
gatlints@jmu.edu

Hi Kip. Thank you for your delightful home page on Zora Neale Hurston.
I was wondering if you had or knew where I might find information on the
black folk tales mentioned in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The folk
tales mentioned but not told in the book, are: --Big John DeCounquer;
--Jody (Joe) The Grinder; --Stackollee (Stagollee, Stacker lee -
different spellings); and a black folk lore character named Trickser
Jack/Trickster John. Any info you have which would put me in the right
direction would be much appreciated.

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is the featured reading
this month
at Wired for Books: Community Reconsidered
(http://www.tcom.ohiou.edu/books/)
I hope that you will all visit our interactive literature site and tell us
what you think about
Hurston's classic novel. It's been pretty slow there recently, so your
comments would be
greatly appreciated. I hope to see you there!

David

Subject: Return Message

I'm suprised you know how to use a computer nigger. Why don't you all go
back to Africa so I don't have to support you dirtbag prisoners and welfare
recipients. WHITE POWER !!!

i know this is offensive. i am deeply angered and saddened by it.
but this is a real message, sent to me by a real person. it's interesting how brave stupid people can be when hidden behind an email address. this stuff must be publicized. - kip

Dear Kip,

I was interested in your page on Zora Neale Hurston. I have just become
familiar with Hurston through Their Eyes Were Watching God. I am taking a
course in college called The Harlem Renaissance and we were asked to read
this book for class. It was at the ending of the book where I read Hurston's
chronology and discovered that she had taught in Fort Pierce and lived out
her life there, as well as being buried there. I lived in Fort Pierce for
many years as a teen and an adult. I attended high school there for 10th and
11th grades and never once was her work brought to my attention.
My parents still "winter" in Fort Pierce, and I may be joining them for a
short vacation next year. I will surely try to find her grave as you did.
And once there, I will say a prayer for her life and her works.
I am currently writing a short paper for class on how I would teach the
period of the Harlem Renaissance through the works of Hurston. I have to
devise a lesson plan for a week long study..... any ideas would be most
appreciated....
Thanks for the work you have done here.....

>Hi, my name is Tarez Walker and I'm a Junior at Southwest Dekalb High School. My
>English teacher has asked us to write a critical response on one of the many books
>that we have read so far this year. I really, really, really enjoyed "Their Eyes
>Were Wathcing God" so I decided to write my paper on that. The problem is that I
>don't know what to write about. I was thinking about the role of death in the
>pursuit of her search/journey (you know how every time someone died she left from
>whever she was to run off with someone). Then I thought about it on racial terms.
> I didn't know how to phras it though. It was as if everyone treated her
>differently from the rest of the black women becuase she had that long pretty hair
>and I think she was a bit fairer that the rest of the black people. I just want
>to compare the way she was treated in that book to the way black people treat each
>other in todays society. If possible, by Sunday preferably, do you think you can
>suggest a few sources that would help me in my pursuit to write the best paper.
>She said we need at least 8 sources (3 can be web pages) and the paper has to be
>at least 10 pages long. SO far I have 4 sources and I'm going to a college
>library to find some other books. Please, if you can mak any suggestion on better
>topics or a few sources, I would greatly appreciate it.
>
>Sincerely,
>Tarez Walker

on your comments about the book: if you read it carefully, it becomes apparent that janie's skin is darker at the beginning of the book. that is, it is described as generally medium brown, and then by the end she is much fairer than the rest of the town. it seems, disturbingly, that as janie became more in touch with herself, and more empowered, she became more WHITE. some pretty messed up messages can be derived from that, and yes, it does relate interestingly to racial issues today.
the important thing to remember is that this book, and literature in general, doesn't belong to some mythical far away time; the book was written in america sixty years ago, by a real person who dealt with real racial issues constantly. politics always shape literature, and in the 1930s, the only way to be empowered at all was to be white.
zora isn't a god, or necessarily even a good role model. she was a republican, a segregationist, a "happy darkie," irresponsible and perhaps too proud for her own good. but above al, she was an artist. everything else is secondary. -kip

3/20/97 wrote:
robertje@tony.bc.edu

Kip please tell me where I could get a reprinted version of some
of
Hurston's field notes????? Desperately seeking.......doing a thesis on
another anthropologist who I think was influenced by Hurston. If you
can then I will share my work and my results. I am still learning how
to use the NET/

Thanks June E Roberts. Boston College/English Dept 4th Fl Carney Hall/
Cshestnut Hill MA 02167 e-mail to robertje@tony.bc.edu

Could you also please send me her cousin's email address? and Lisa
Pillow's too if you can? Would be forever grateful.

thanks, June

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>i don't know of anyone who has copies of her field notes. i'll try to
>check
>on that for you.
>the niece, lucy, is the one you want to talk to, not her cousin. lucy's
>email address is LHurston@aol.com. lucy and the guy at university of
>florida
>(i think) rare text depository listed on the zora page each might have
>some
>of the field notes. you can contact them, or i will.
>lisa pillow is actually a librarian. she generally does librarian stuff
>while she goes to school, and does not study zora. that was incidental;
>she
>just helped me out with some materials for the page.
>hope this will help you- good luck. i'll probably get back to you
>soon... -kip

For give me for intruding but I have a question. As I develop
>and understanding of the things around me I've come to the conclusion
>(or I have reached the point where I believe) that art is and imitation
>of nature (not just trees, but life. everything real is nature) such that
>the reflection made by the imitation inherents the artists ideas of
>something. that is, the peice of art emphasizes something in such a way
>that it explains something that only could be understood through the
>language of the universe that was being imitated to explain. anyhow, if
>you've been able to follow my semi-coherent thought so far, I would like to
>ask what exactly does zora neale say? I agree that she was able to use words
>to imitate nature, but she didn't seem to be able to manipulate it to say
>anything. anything that could be seen in her work was inherent in the
>subject to begin with; what was her contribution. After reading her book I
>felt cheated since she only passed on life in words, big deal. at least kant
>and marx and jefferson and adams and rand and picaso and michaelangelo and
>... had something to say. Any input? i'd really appreciate it, thanx :)
>
>William Ahern
>wahern@castaway.cc.uwf.edu

I do not have any papers to give you, but I would just like to comment on Thei
r Eyes Were Watching God. I am a junior at a High School in CT, and our
American Literature class has just finished reading this beautiful novel. I
fully understood the book, even though I do have a lot to learn about love,
but I could relate to the book to the experiences that I've had so far. And
in a way, in the beginning of the book, I think Janie was like me in that she
didn't fully understand what love was until she met Tea Cake. I have to say,
though, that I read the book with a cassette tape narrated by Michele-Denise
Woods. She does a wonderful job telling the story. Otherwise, I wouldn't
understand the dialect at all. When we have class discussions about the
book, everyone comments on how it is so hard to understand the "black" voice.
I think you were right when you said that the only people who could not like
Zora Neale Hurston's writing are the people who don't understand it. I have
to say, that this novel is the first novel we've read so far this year by a wo
man. I'm proud that woman is Zora Neale Hurston, because I was introduced
this year to a writer who has really inspired me.

3/18/97
BlackRepb@aol.com

>Great Page -great Resouce! I Read in Cornel West's book "Race Matters" that
>Zora wias a Republican -do you have any info on that ?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
zora actually campaigned for a republican senate candidate, in new york, i believe.
republicans and democrats have not always been what they are now. all of the backward southern whites used to be called "democrats." now they are mostly "conservative republicans," and instead of crying directly about desegregation and racial purity, they use code words like "family values" and "leveling the playing field." i personally support some of the libertarian leanings of republicans, but their social dogma is, frankly, unjustifiable and repulsive.
republicans seem to believe in equal opportunity, but only for rich white males.
that's enough of my political spouting, which i'm sure you hear plenty of, with that kind of email address. on to addressing your question:

but zora was a weird one; she opposed any form of integration (she said things like "black folk can support themselves") while she gladly accepted money from white patrons. i don't know many of the specifics of the campaign zora was involved in (which was a losing one), except for the info on the recently updated chronology page (pages.prodigy.com/zora/zchronol.htm, i believe).
good luck in your search, hope this info is of some assistance. -kip

The word "simple" to describe Hurston's work, is the same word many critics
of the time used to descibe her work-simple. Huston's work deals with race,
class, gender issues of the black community, i.e. the black hierarchy within
the white hegemonic infrastructure that pervades all institutions and
discourses. Where is this analyisis? Hurston was writting at a time where
identity-black identity was trying to be re-written instead of re-integrated
or re-instated into white supremisist positionings of meaning identity and
power. her work undoubtly delt with these issues-I would like to hear from
others as to thier ideas of how these issues were approached in Hurston's
writtings. Another question, why is it predominant in woman's writting of
this time period to have women heroins who do not entirely overcome thier
obsticles. Why can't Janie, in Thier Eyes are Watching God, have love and
her freedom? why is it always an either or situation?

>Hi! Kip!
>
>I am so impressed with this website.
>
>I am currently revising my paper on Zora's play, "Color Struck." I am
>just wondering whether you have come acrossed any articles on this
>play. I have so far only been able to locate the article of Zora as
>Dramatist in "Zora in Florida."
>
>Have you heard of any production of this play?
>
>Thank you so much.
>Hsiu-chen Lin
>Northwestern University
>lynn2@nwu.edu
>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
i know very little about the play. i know of no actual productions of it, though i know there must have been a least a few. i know it is sort of what made her famous in renaissance circles.
i will check on other sources,and get back to you as soon as i can. her drama is certainly something that has been too ignored.
later -kip

3/12/97
Pamela Bordelon

>New information, new leads fill in many of the missing Hurston details.
>She was not born in Florida, but in tiny Notasulga Florida. See the
>forthcoming (Mar, 1997) issue of African American Review for full
>information.
>
>I was looking for the photographs from the Univ. of Florida posted by
>Jeffrey Barr, can't seem to find the link-- When I read your chronology.
>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
i haven't updated the links yet- i'm working on it now-
actually, it was notasulga ALABAMA, i believe. still tiny, but not in florida. i have the info, just haven't updated it yet. found it in a new yorker article last month. good article.
thanks for the letter. i will check out the march issue. -kip

Dear Kip,

I'm the new dramaturg for the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, GA,
although I am currently in New York City. Do you happen to know
anything about a play version of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," which
may have been called "To Gleam it Around and Show My Shine," adapted by
a Bonnie Ratner, or perhaps a Bonnie Moss Ratner? I am trying to locate
this script and if you have any information on it, I would greatly
appreciate it. Thanks.

Best regards,

Michael Kinghorn
snap@interport.net

i have a book that was written by mr huie title ruby mccollum woman in a suwannee county jail
the author makes reference to zora n hurston being in live oak fla and covering the trial for the pittsburgh courier?
in 1952 ruby a black woman murdered her white doctor/politician lover and father of two of her children while she was married to sam mccollum who was the bolita king and quite wealthy for that time
the book published by e p dutton & co inc in 1956 is banned in fla as the doctor had many political friends and was being groomed to be the states next govenor
i would like to know what ms hurston articles said about this trial feel free to contact me if you have questions

you have my e mail ad
my mail ad is g scott 3621 beach dr s e st pete fl 33705>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

thanks for the letter.
unfortunately, i can't help you, because i knew less than you about this. i knew she covered the trial, and some of the basic facts, but have never read the article.
i'm not sure where you could find it. i'd check the MLA and whatever libraries you have handy.
perhaps try contacting the pittsburgh courier, if they are still around.
sorry i couldn't be more helpful. good luck finding it. -kip

At 03:14 AM 3/9/97 -0800, bacBits@pacbell.net wrote:
>Kip:
>
>I was so happy to find your web page on Hurston. I had been searching
>the web most of the evening and a few hours on Friday and could not find
>anything close to what I was looking for. I am doing a paper on "Their
>Eyes Were Watching God" and am looking for essays regarding the novel. I
>hoped to find what I needed via the web, but have been striking out. I
>am writing about the male roles in the book and their treatment of the
>women and themselves. One of the essays on your page is a great help to
>me, but I need more. Do you have any suggestions on where I could get
>more essays on the internet? I was hoping to avoid a trip to the
>library, it just seems silly to have to go looking through stacks when I
>hav the whole world at my fingertips. I am new at this net searching and
>would appreciate any help you might give me.
>
>Sincerely,
>Debbie Bacon
>
>P.S. I love the book! The language is so much fun to read, it had me
>laughing out loud at times, and I am hard to get a laugh out of while
>reading. I get frustrated when i am asked to "rip" a story apart and
>look inside the mind of an aughot. Why can't a story just be a story. I
>read the critisism of this novel and have my own ideas of why the male
>authors of her time would come down on Hurston regarding her lack of
>interest in putting up a "fight" for the black prrson. After all this
>book had little to do with "black men" and more to do with one very
>st5rong black women. This is the point I would like to make in my own
>essay. It is a little shaky right now, but I usually start out shakey
>and come on strong in the finish.
>
>Debbie
>
>********************************************
thanks for the letter, debbie.
while that "world at your fingertips" stuff sounds nice, it's a load of shit. at least, it's not true YET. to research a non-internet based topic, such as literature, you will need to go to a traditional library, and look in traditional books, microfiche, etc. it's not fun, perhaps, but is still unavoidable.
the internet is young and disorganized. most of the information is worthless; hence your difficulty finding what you want. when there is no filter, no weeding out of any of the programming, you end up getting all the programming. the lesson here is that while a great many people have something to say, a great many MORE people have nothing to say and say it quite loudly.
the internet needs to be scrapped and rebuilt. i think the universities might be doing it in a few years, with what is now called "internet 2." we'll see if it works. until then, go to the library once in a while. look up some of the references on my bibliography page.

zora definitely refused to engage in the sort of flagrant (and nonetheless justified) rage that richard wright was into. she instead slaugtered racism much more effectively, and richard wright was too caught up in his rage to notice. not that i dislike wright, but he had no right to call her a "minstrel" and a "happy negro performing for white people" and whatever else he called her just because he didn't get it. someone who didn't get wright's fiction would be hard pressed to discern it from the southern "nigger-hater" paranoia fiction of just a decade before. the reality was, zora would do whatever she had to to be able to write what she wanted to write. she compromised and sacrificed everything else to keep her writing pure, and that is the one thing wright and others tried to take away from her.

your point is a very good one: zora's book is about one very strong black woman, who is ultimately alone in the world, fighting to get by, fighting against everyone (regardless of color- that's the clause wright didn't like), who tries to fuck her up.

good luck on your paper. -kip

Dear Kip,
>     I Recently read the book
>Their Eyes are Watching God
>and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm
>writing a compare/contrast research
>paper critiquing the three husbands
>that Jamie had and I would be very appreciative
>if you had any supportive evidence you
>can send me. Oh one more thing
>did Mrs. Hurston marry three times?
>
>                  Thanks,
>                  Tom G
>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
on your first question: it's all in the book, of course. i'm not going to read it to you.
the second question, which is much more worthy of a response: zora married twice, i believe: to her howard university sweetheart herbert sheen, and later to albert price III, who i don't know much about. both ended in divorce.
but she had a third relationship, which is very likely a parallel to teacake in "their eyes." zora calls him P.M.P. in her autobiography. she ended that relationship when she fell in love with him, and then abandoned went to the caribbean to research for "tell my horse", and ended up writing "their eyes" while there, in less than two months. the predominant critcal opinion is that she left him because she didn't want to ever have to depend on a man for anything, and wrote the book as a sort of purging/celebration of love that is blissful yet impossible to maintain.
good luck on your paper. check out the recent feb. 17th issue of "the new yorker" and robert hemenway's biography on zora for more information on this stuff and many other things. -kip

Kip,
>I'm an English minor at Spelman College. I have been searching the web for
>information on the Lovelace Sermon. Do you know of any links that may have
>information? This is an aspect often overlooked by those that study Hurston,
>but it is extremely important. Please e-mail me with any information.
>
>NT
>ntin92105@aol.com
>
>**The web page was a great help.
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
unfortunately, i am unfamiliar with that. i guess it must be quite overlooked, because nobody has even mentioned it to me before.
good luck in your search. i'm glad you liked the page. thanks for writing-
kip

1/29/97
From: MsSmith2U@aol.com <MsSmith2U@aol.com>
Subject: Zora Neale Hurston & Katherine Dunham

You've done great work getting onformation on Zora Neale Hurston into
cyberspace. I was recently speaking to Dr. T. Scheffey in the English
Department at Morgan State University. She hosts the Zora Neale Hurston
Society and Conference which will take place in Baltimore, MD in June. I am
mentioning this because I didn't see it listed. If it was listed sorry.
Also Dr. Scheffey informed me that she had written a book entitled Behold
the Dreamers, Katherine Dunham and Zora Neale Hurston, Trajectory: Fueling
the future and preserving the African-American Literary Past. Do not quote
me on the exact title. If you do not know Dr. Scheffey it might be good to
contact her to get more information. She can be reached M W F from 1-2pm at
(410) 319-3435.

Good Luck,
Hallie Stone

By the way as I am sitting here at work at American Visions. In case you
aren't familiar with it AV caters to the African American community and deals
with the arts, culture, history etc. The magazine is going into its 12th
year. Starting in February AV will launch a compelling on line service that
will host different topics. Since my job is to find people to host the chats
or conversations, I thought you might be interested in hosting one of our
chats. Let me know and I will be glad to send you more information. You can
reply at this email address. or my day time number is 202 496-9593. Look
forward to hearing from you.

1/14/97
From: Sarah Anne Perine <sperine@scuacc.scu.com>
Subject: Zora is a queen!

Hi!
I really enjoyed your website on Zora. I happened upon a biography for
teens about Ms. Hurston when I was an eighth grader and have been
reading her books ever since. I'm now a freshman at Santa Clara
University in California and I am doing a research paper for my english
class on one of my professor's suggested topics. It involves one of the
few books I hadn't read by Zora, Tell My Horse. I was wondering if you
might have heard anything or know any good links or places to go to get
info. My topic is: "The Haitian President Whose Daughter Married a
Goat". Intriguing, isn't it!!! Anyhow, it would be great if you could
help, but I also want to thank you for the great website. Happy New
Year!

Sarah Perine

P.S. Their Eyes were Watching God is my all time favorite. Love me
some Tea Cake!!!
Take care!

ilq

Dear KIP,
>    Congratulations on a wonderful website. Thank you soo much for putting it
>together. My students and I LOVE it! I am writing to you from the cane fields
>of Pahokee (about 10 miles north of Belle Glade where Zora onced lived). I am
>an English teacher at an alternative school called the School of Choice in
>Pahikke, Florida..
>    In 1994, my students and I founded and published our first cultural
>magazine,
>"Grassy Waters" which features stories about the people, culture, and history
>of the people who live in the Glades (on the "muck" as we call it). Our
>entire first issue was
>dedicated to Zora's biography and work. Not only did my students read
>everything they could get their hands on about her, they also interviewed
>people here in Belle Glade who knew Zora well. One friend of Zora's, Sara Lee
>Creech (created the first black doll to be sold in the U.S. with Zora's
>help), shared some of her private letters from Zora as well as photographs.
>    Much to our surprize, the first copy of Grassy Waters Magazine was so
>popular, we sold over 1,000 copies to people all over the country! Just think
>of the inetrest we could have generated if we had our own website! That is
>now in the works. Unttil then, would you be interested in featuring the Zora
>issue as a link in your website? I will be happy to send you a copy for your
>review. Please let me know via E-Mail.
>
>Thank You,
>Lynn Stephey
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
i'd love to. thanks for writing and sharing zora with people.
congratulations on the success of your publication.

i just returned from florida a few days ago. visited the "muck." my parents live in fort lauderdale (a horribly superficial city, but still kind of charming), and i had intended to visit eatonville while there. my brother coerced me to go to disneyworld (the ultimate exhibit of capitalism) instead by offering free tickets (hey, it's a good time, even if it is a bit evil).
maybe next time i will make it there.

send me whatever you would like and i will check it out when i have time. thanks-- kip

>Greetings,
>
>I have enjoyed your website...good work.
>
>I am heading to Florida this winter, and plan to attend the
>Z.N.H. conference in Eatonville. Also, I am interested in trying to find
>Ms. Hurston's grave...can you tell me the name of the cemetary or give any
>specific directions (I have been to Ft.Pierce a few times, so any guidance
>will help).
>
>What college are you affiliated with? I am a anthropolgy/sociology major
>at Eastern Oregon State College in La Grande, Oregon.
>
>Once again, thanks for creating a space to connect with others who
>appreciate the wonderful works of Zora Neale Hurston.
>
>Liza Hanan
>hanane@eosc.osshe.edu
>
---------------------------------------------------------------

i attend the ohio state university, pursuing a BA with distinction in english.
honestly, i wish i had written it down, but i can't remember how to get to the cemetary. everyone there was willing to help us despite their lack of reliable knowledge, but we ended up looking through several cemetaries until a guy came up to ask and asked who we were looking for. "oh, you mean the poet? she over back there," and proceeded to give complicated sounding directions that turned out to be simple.
the cemetary she was in is a the end of a road, not far from one of the major cemetaries (it was the least hilly cemetary we saw there, if that helps). there was a small field, mostly empty, with a few grave markers, and one marker with plastic and real flowers right in the middle. this is zora.
it wasn't far from what i believe was an elementary school, and was right next to one house, and on the left side of the road.
your best bet is to describe it as i have to somebody who lives there. find someone old enough to have beed around when that cemetary was active (it was used by the city to bury poor people, which zora was).
there is a zora library somewhere in ft pierce, and i haven't been there. there is also the house and nursing home she lived in there, which are marked as such. at any of these places, i'm certain you will be able to find some assistance.
good luck, if you get directions please send a copy to me to post on the page. i might be going to ft pierce myself in a couple weeks.
thanks for writing -kip

Kip,
Sorry to take so long to respond to your last message. I have switched to AOL
and have spent 3 months trying to get graphics on it! But now I have found
your wonderful web site again! When I do book reviews of Their Eyes for my
senior citizen audiences I must remember to tell them about your web page
too. Many of them are starting to buy computers to be able to talk to their
grandchildren! Though most of them have never heard of Zora Neale Hurston
they are mesmerized by Janie Crawford.

Yes, there will be a film made of Their Eyes. I searched Lexis Nexis at Fla
Int'l University (I just graduated the other day) and found a Black
Enterprise article dated June 1996 that reports Quincy Jones' plans for an
"adaptation...which is being produced in conjunction with Oprah Winfrey's
Harpo Films."
So maybe there will be a film after all. Let's hope it does justice to Zora.

I am going to try to make it this year to the Festival. Just received the
information booklet in the mail.
Thanks again for the web site page.

Ronelle Delmont / Pembroke Pines, Florida 954 435 5270
PS Didn't you say your parents live in Cooper City?

12/17/96
>Angela Williams (UND)
>
>> HELLO, I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE DONE A
>> TERRIFIC JOB WITH THE ZORA NEALE HURSTON HOMEPAGE. ALSO, THAT YOU THE
>> INFORMATION WAS VERY HELPFUL. OH! BY THE WAY MY NAME IS ANGELA AND I
>> ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA. I AM FROM FT. PIERCE, FL. I AM
>> VERY INTERESTED IN FINDING MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MRS. HURSTON. I BECAME
>> INTERESTED IN
>> HER A WHILE AGO, WHEN THERE WAS A LIBRARY BUILT IN HONOR OF HER. THERE IS
>> ALSO THE HOUSE SHE LIVED IN, BEFORE GOING INTO THE NURSING HOME
>> ,LEFT STANDING IN HONOR OF HER. I STARTED ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT HER. MY
>> GRANDMOTHER GAVE A LITTLE INFORMATION. I STILL HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS I
>> WANT TO ASK. I EMAIL HER NIECE PUT I DID NOT GET ANY RESPONSE BACK
>> YET. IS ZORA NEALE HURSTON APART OF ANY SORRORITIES AND IF SO WHICH ONE.
>> ALSO WHEN ? WAS DURING HER UNDERGRADUATE YEARS.
>>
>> I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR REPLY

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

zora was a member of a sorority, i believe- i cant remember the name right now, but it is referenced on one of the pages linked to from my page. not tim gallaher's site, but one of the other sites specifically devoted to zora.
i think that lucy is in jamaica researching right now. she is actually quite busy writing, researching, and teaching a lot. if you have a couple of specific things to ask her or tell her, send her a short and to-the-point email, and she will try to respond when she has time.
i have a couple of friends in fort pierce, and might go there sometime next week when i visit my parents in fort lauderdale for christmas. i haven't seen her house (or the nursing home), and would like to. that library also sounds interesting.
i hope i have been able to direct you to some answers, and if there is anything else i might be able to help you with, write to me. i don't do this stuff every day, but (usually) can manage once a week. consequently, i'm not much assistance if you are, for instance, writing a paper that is due the next day, but a little better for curiosity. kip

Hello. Thank you for providing your great essay "I Am Me" on your site. I
was to lazy to go through the *whole* monotnous, silly novel Their Eyes Were
Watching God. My AP Literature teacher assigned an essay on it. Out of
desperation, I turned to your glorious web site and found your essay. I
copied it verbaitem and handed it in, and guess what? I got an A+!!!
Congrats to you and all your gifted writing skills!

I give oral book reviews to senior citizens living in condos and retirement
homes throughout 3 south Florida counties - Broward, Dade and Palm Beach.

Someone in my audience mentioned they heard Their Eyes will soon be a film.
Is this true? The responses I receive from the older women are very moving.
They love Janie Crawford and just cannot imagine why Zora went unappre-
ciated for so long.

I will be giving more and more oral book reviews of Their Eyes to all my
senior citizen listeners throughout the year. I hope a film is finally created
that will do justice to this incredible book.

Ronelle Delmont 954/435 5270

Branwen's Pantry wrote:
>Hi,
>Just wondering if you would consider adding my link. I am an African
>american anthropologist who has been working to continue Zora's work both
>spiritually and academically , specifically in the area of New Orleans
>Voodoo. My pages are located at
>http://www.tiac.net/users/bpantry/voodoo
>it contains information about Voodoo as well as articles from our
>newsletter about african diasporic religion and products we carry
>including Zora's books(well some of them). Would be happy to add a
>reciprocal link if you like.
>Modupe,
>Lilith
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

it will be a pleasure to add a link to the page. it's wonderful that you are working on this. i think african diaspora religion is something which was neglected for way too long. sadly, much of it may be gone and we will never know it, except in the ways it adapted to the christian religions of europeans. most of my knowledge of voodoo comes from zora- i've never studied it at all.
i support and encourage your work, and if you would like to add a link to my page i would be honored. thanks for writing. -kip
>

I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND OUT WHY ZORA HURSTON'S NOVEL "THEIR EYES WERE
WATCHING GOD" WAS BANNED. I HAVE TRIED SEVERAL ATTEMPTS BUT CAN NOT LOCATE
ANY INFORMATION. I WOULD BE ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN FINDING AN ARTICLE
WRITTEN ABOUT THE BANNING OF THIS BOOK.

At 07:48 PM 8/19/96 +0000, Gay Wilentz wrote:
>hi! i'm gay wilentz and i have written essays about hurston ("Defeating
>the False God: Janie's Search for Self-Determination in ZNH's THEIR EYES
>WERE WATHCING GOD" as well as an essay onthe relationship of hurston to
>fannie hurst ("Black Artist and White Patron: The Correspondance of
>Fannie Hurst & ZNH). And I am interested if you have any material sent
>to you on that relationship. I am in the process of writing a book about
>their lives and wonder if you have found anything on the web? Thanks a
>lot, and if you need more info about these essays jsut let me know.

>Gay Wilentz, coordinator, Multicultural Literture Program, East Carolina
>U, Greenville, NC 27858 enwilent@eastnet,educ.ecu.edu or enwilent@ecuvm.
>cis.ecu.edu
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
sorry i didn't respond earlier. the fannie hurst question is interesting. i had a professor who talked about this kind of relationship a lot. i don't have any materials specifically addressing this, but i know some of the books in the bibliography on the page mention it. i'm thinking that "i love myself when i am laughing" had a pertinent essay, but i'm sure you've seen that.
i personally think that zora made an unspoken yet conscious choice to sacrifice part of herself. she gave up part of her art, even part of her "blackness," to become what she felt she needed to become. it is horrifyingly sad that an artist would be in this position, but not uncommon (even today) and can almost be ASSUMED for a black or a female (or, especially, someone who is both) living before desegregation.
this in no way takes away from her importance, and i think she knew it would be understood that way- you gotta read between the lines in her autobiography. the most telling things are the things she doesn't mention at all. many of our great artists, really, made similar sacrifices to be able to make their art. shakespeare, da vinci, robert johnson, chopin, dosteoyevsky, ellington, dickenson. their genius is not diminished by the sacrifices. if anything, it is sometimes these sacrifices that allow us to even know who they are at all.
anyway, i gotta go. i'll be updating the page soon. good luck on your research, sorry i can't really help you much. hope it is a great success. -kip

>I have been to the Eatonville, Hurston festival. I thought it was a little lame. But
>that could be from trying to create something with out the adequete funds. Also,
>I drove down for the day and I wonder if it would have been more interesting
>to be able to participate in all the lectures and stuff.
>
>As for Zora's house, I had talked with the folks at The Eatonville Arts Center
>and they said that the house has been long gone. They said there were still
>some houses around from the same time period but I was unable to find them.
>Have you been to Eatonville?
>
>Kathy
>Interactive Imagination
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
no, i haven't been. i would like to. as for funding for the festival, i don't really know what it's like, but envision it as basically just a bunch of poeple interested in zora who get together and learn and have a good time. perhaps festival isn't the right word. maybe they should call it "conference," or something else less exciting and more true. "festival" probably helps attract some of the tourists ($) they want, which would, in turn, help make it more like a festival. tough call. -kip

I think it might be a good idea in the future to refrain from divulging
major plot developments of the novel on an introductory page. I have not
read read _Their Eyes Were Watching God_ and was rather annoyed to read
the fact that Janie goes on trial at the end of the novel. I can
appreciate your admiration for the author, but please allow the rest of
us to read it before we learn the story.

John Gibbons

I am a reference librarian helping Garrison Keilor's staff put
together a package of American Literary Voices. I have good access to
all libraries' holdings throughout the world and have checked into the
Schomberg Collection at NY. Apart from one recording of ZNH singing,
I cannot find a recording of her voice. Do you have any inside
knowledge of where or who might have such a thing?
helen-ryan@uiowa.edu Thanks so much. Your Zora site looks great!

>Kip-
>
>I was greatly impressed by your page about Hurston. I would like to
>participate in any discussion group you may want to set up.
>
>I am a Jazz musician and composer, mainly influenced ny Duke Ellington,
>Charles Mingus, and Wynton Marsalis. When I read _Their Eyes Were Watching
>God_ for the first time, it set off a great reaction of inspiring music in
>my head. I am currently re-reading the novel, and I am going to write an
>extended Jazz suite based on it. Hopefully, I can send you a copy of it once
>I get it performed and recorded.
>
>Hope to hear more from you. Take care...
>
>Doug Wamble
>c-schmugar@nwu.edu
>http://pubweb.acns.nwu.edu/~cds653
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

greatest response to the page i've read in a long time...
i am actually a musician as well. i used to play trombone and guitar in a jazz group, but now i generally play less, um, conventional things. i will always love jazz, though.
unfortunately, my house was burglarized recently, and they took my korg 01/w ($2000 keyboard), along with disks containing all the music i've worked on for the past year. life's a bastard sometimes.
anyway, thanks so much for writing, and i would love to hear your zora music. i wrote one gospel/blues song in the car on the way home from visiting her grave, which is not one of my best, but is well-intended at least (my grasp of gospel (and everything, i guess) is a little warped, so the song is intentionally kind of abrasive, if you can imagine the sound of that).
later- kip

Thanks for adding the suggested items to the bibliography - and the credit,
which almost made me blush.

Sorry about the delay in replying - I've been frantically trying to finish off
our new web pages at work before going on holiday. Finally completed with a day
to spare.

Some discussion element to the Hurston pages sounds a great idea. Publishing
lengthy articles is OK though I think they should be 'set back' from the front
of the site, linked via short abstracts (say 50 words).

My own preference would be for a kind of interactive encyclopedia: short
articles organized under a growing list of alphabetically indexed topics.
Participants may add new topics or offer additions to (or criticisms of)
existing entries.

The topics might include fairly obvious things like placenames (real and
fictional), historical personages and events, characters, eg

EATONVILLE
HAITI
FRANZ BOAS
RICHARD WRIGHT
HARLEM
MARIE LEVEAU
HOODOO

and under these headings could be included basic factual information as well as
more interpretive stuff on how they figure in Zora's life and work.

But the topics could include more unusual items, picking up on less-examined
elements in her writing. A few random possiblities might be

THOTH - the Egyptian God whose Book appears in *Moses* (but the topic might be
extended to include his Greek and Roman equivalents, Hermes and Mercury - latter
crops up in *Dust Tracks* for instance).

JANUS - has been suggested that Zora had him in mind when she named her main
character in *Their Eyes* and there is a link here to the special significance
of the turning of the year (Dec 31 / Jan 1) in her work (this is discussed
briefly in Lowe's *Jump at the Sun*).

CHEVROLET - the car she drives in *Mules* - readers often forget that Zora has
the freedom of mobility while her 'informants' are often stuck where they are.
Cars also play a big role in *Seraph*, marking Jim's material advancement and
social differences between characters.

FREUD - the fact that Sigmund Freud was writing a book about Moses around the
same time as Zora (he also imagined him as an Egyptian) has not been discussed
very much. She might not have read this, but certainly knew Freud's work. Lowe
suggests that *Seraph* owes a lot to Freud's essay on 'Mourning and
Melancholia'.

COURTROOM - court scenes in *Their Eyes* and *Jonah*, but also the tragic events
of 1948-49 in Zora's own life.

WASHING - a key motif in her writing (as it is in that of Booker T Washington,
whom she admired): this is discussed briefly by Lowe (though strangely in a book
on humour seems to miss the pun).

That should give you an idea. There are obviously different ways you could edit
the material. One approach would be to take the approach of a conventional
publisher and drastically standardize the contributions so it looks like any
dictionary or encylopedia that comes in book form. Or you can leave
contributions pretty much as they come in - not trying to hide the differences
of fact or opinion - with authors' names & email addresses attached (so that
very specialist conversations may be continued in private so to speak). Even
with a more backseat role, there would probably be a need to occasionally revise
headings (merging and renaming them in accordance with what comes in).

I should probably stop here before I get too carried away (OK I have already).
It's more structured than a newsgroup or mailing list (formats I've never got
much out of), but is much more flexible and interesting I think than publishing
self-contained texts.

Please let me know what you think. I might be able to write two or three
(slightly provocative?) entries to start the ball rolling if you like, but I'm
certainly not looking to be a major contributor.

Best wishes
Alasdair

-----------
In case you want to look at the results of my hard work, go to
http://www.music.gla.ac.uk/HTMLFolder/Resources/SMIC/homepage.html
I'm an absolute beginner at html, so don't expect anything fancy!

>Hello Kip,
>
>I have been searching for information about Hurston and, in the process,
>came across your Webpage. I don't know if you can help me, but I thought
>I'd ask. I am trying to locate the Zora Neale Hurston Estate, specifically
>Everette Hurston, Sr., in order to acquire permission to reprint an essay
>of hers in an anthology a professor I work for is editing. Do you have any
>idea where the Estate is located or what agency administers it? Or are
>you perhaps aware of who might be able to direct me to the right place?
>
>If you have any information that you think might be of assistance, I
>would be very grateful. The matter is quite urgent.
>
>Thanks for your interest.
>Sincerely,
>Shannon
>
>
>Shannon Chace-Hall
>Department of English
>Queen's University
>Kingston, ON
>email: 3SMC22@QUCDN.QueensU.ca

>Hello, My name is Mithun Rathore and my screename on AOL is HSRathore.
>I was wondering if you knew anything about Zora's relationship with
>Robert Sheen. I am writing a long essay about her relationships with men
>and how they affected Their Eyes so anthing you can offer would help. I
>found that the Hemenway bography lacks some what in this aspect so
>anything you could send, as soon as possible of course, would help a lot.
>Thank you, Mithun
>
-------------------------------------------------------------
i don't know a whole lot about zora's personal life. i just updated the zora page's bibliography, though, and a few of the new books which are listed would probably be informative on this matter.
but one of the reasons hemenway's biography is not too detailed on this is that we don't know all that much. there is conjecture, but all we can be sure of is that the relationship, like most of zora's relationships with men (and especially similar to her marriage to albert price), was intense, short, and finally bitter.
i have been in contact with her niece, lucy hurston, and could pose this question to her. lucy knows a lot more about zora's personal life than i do, of course, but she is very bust finishing her doctoral thesis right now, so i can't be sure whether she has time for much help or not. she has been planning on writing some stuff for the page, but is very busy.

        a good portion of zora's life was spent submitting to authority in order to achieve her ultimate ends, whatever they were at the time. this "authority" was usually whites, but certainly was, at times, men as well. i very much see *their eyes* as an attack on the oppression women feel from men: only the victim can stop the oppression, by forcing the oppressor to stop. because they aren't really better or stronger, they only keep power by fear. when the victim realizes the true equality of the situation, the oppression begins to fade.
        this is what janie does to her husbands, and this viewpoint is probably analogous to race relations as well as sex relations. the town, as an all black town, was a middle finger stuck up to the white world, similar to janie's insult of teacake's sexual prowess. the whites didn't want to admit that blacks were people just as much as they were, and capable of things such as (gasp) civilization, just as teacake didn't want to admit that janie could think as good as, or even better than, himself.
        the irony is in zora's submission. she bought into the white patron system, played the "happy darkie" (as langston hughes claimed), and didn't fight the power, in either men or whites. perhaps her tendency to not get along with men after a while was a result of the psychic dissonance created by doing one thing and wanting to do another. it's almost as if she lived the life she wanted in her books, because she couldn't in reality, or else she wouldn't have been able to write books. this is a paradox, but one that brought us her marvelous work.

i don't know if any of those ideas fit into what you are looking at, but check the bibliography on the page, and good luck. later -kip

Hi. I'm writing under my friend Jodie's email. She contacted you earlier
this week re: the Gates source. I got the book, thanks.
My senior seminar is a critisim of Hurston personal life and political
philosophies. My thesis challenges readers to look past her skillfully
crafted writings to examine the person. Any insight or information you can
pass along will be greatly appreciated.

I've found conflicting reports about her father. Their relationship is a
major point of issue in my paper. (goes to psychological trauma) Any info
on the subject would help. Which Lucy Hurston are you meeting with?

Thank you,

P. Yvonne McGhee

P.S

I found some unpublished information in my sorority archives on her. It's
yours if you want it. If Zeta Phi Beta has a chapter at osu, they might
have some as well.


                                  Very truly yours,

                                  Jodie E. Goebel
                                  JEG67@Water.net

I just visited your site. I'm in the midst of my own homepage construction,
and I've got Their Eyes listed as one of my favorite books. Now that
I've got the pages up, I thought it would be a good idea to hotlink some of
my more interesting interests, so I went looking for a good Zora page or
reference to link to and I found you. Great job!

You don't have to worry about the page being a fitting tribute to Zora. It's
wonderful, and very moving. It is as effective and objective a tribute as
I've seen to anyone anywhere.

I think Their Eyes Were Watching God is one of the great mastepieces
of American Literature. I also respect Zora for sticking to her artistic
vision. She understood that being true to yourself is one of the most
profound tributes to one's heritage a person can make. Most important to
me (as it is apparently to you, too) is Zora's treatment of the characters
in her novels as fully formed human beings, not political objects. I find
her insights into the motivations of her characters (for example, Joe
Starks) to be truly amazing. There is so much in this book about life and
relationships between men and women (I'll take Janie and Teacake over
Franklin and Zora ANY day). If there is any one book most responsible
for my decision to become a writer, it's this one.

My site is in its very formative stages, but it is up and running (kind of).
I'm nobody's cybergrrl, and proud of it. I've tried to make it readable, kind
of funny, and not too hard on the eyes. Most important, I tried to keep it
true to it's author. My only aberration from the laws of good page
authoring is a slightlly too large (19K) picture of myself, so consider
yourself warned. I'll add a clickable table of contents when I've finished
searching out all of my links. If you're curious, here's the URL:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sheba821

Keep up the wonderful work, Kip. And thanks!!!

>I know of one brother, a very intelligent and together guy in other
>respects, who considers Eyes some kind of monument to the destruction
>of black men. He theorized that because Janie left her first husband, told
>the second one off on his death bed, and wound up shooting her third to
>death, that the book was more about Zora's pent-up need to use and
>destroy black men, than Janie's quest for true love and fulfillment.
>
Just goes to show you how different men and
>women can really be at times.
>
*******************************************************
hmm... i can see a reading of "their eyes" involving sexual politics, but definitely not that one. you can tell what he's afraid of.
        each time janie strikes out against the men, which she does fairly regularly, it IS with greater severity. however, this is not because of some desire to destroy, this is self-defense. (i wonder if i can attach any sort of logical support to this theory; i only slept three hours last night) (i just realized it's been too long, i need to reread "their eyes")
        throughout her life, janie, as many women of the time, submitted to her "mastesr," her husbands. the relationships, while not completely uncaring, were based on what the husband could use the wife for, and certainly not the other way around. janie did all the work in the store. teacake never did anything but publicly and privately abuse her.
        when she takes a stand for the first time, it is merely to secure the right to speak (which has never been as guaranteed for women as for men). she hurts him in the way she can the most (by questioning his sexual prowess), destroying his ego and, most importantly, ending one aspect of his oppression of her. she becomes a freewoman, slave to NOBODY.
        so if it is wrong for a person to want freedom, wrong for a woman to want to be treated as a human being, and wrong to not submit to anything that "the man" (not just racially, any oppressor) desires, then janie was "using and destroying black men." the claim that by standing up for herself in the face of adversity janie is doing anything but claiming her right to equality is to deny women the RIGHT to equality. "by any means necessary" means for EVERYBODY, and when men understand this, sexism will die. it is that kind of thinking ("women are the devils," "frailty, thy name is woman") that has oppressed women since antiquity. -kip

note: if any personal information has been included and you wish it to be removed, just let me know.