Their Eyes Were Watching God: April 2011

Author Biography by Morgan Geer

Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891. She was an American author of short stories and novels. She is best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Hurston was the fifth of eight kids in her family. Her parents were John and Lucy Ann Hurston. Hurston was born in Alabama, but her family moved to Eatonville, Florida when she was three years old. When Hurston was 13, her mom died and her dad remarried quickly. Hurston was sent to a boarding school, but she was expelled because her dad and stepmom stopped paying her tuition. To finish high school for free Hurston lied about her age. She was really 26 years old, but she claimed to be 16. She graduated two years later. After she graduated she attended Howard University. After her studies there she attended Barnard College where she got her Bachelor’s degree in anthropology.

Throughout her adult years, Hurston travelled in the Caribbean and South America to learn about the different cultures. She published her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937 along with her other novels Jonah’s Gourd Vine in 1934 and Moses, Man of the Mountain in 1939. In 1927, Hurston married Herbert Sheen, but they got a divorce in 1931. She married again in 1939. He was 25 years younger than her. This marriage ended after a few months. Hurston died of hypertensive heart disease in 1960 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Fort Pierce.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Magazine Progression

Magazine Cover