'Zora Live!' performance slated April 17 at library
By Times Staff Writer
Published April 7, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - Florida author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston will be brought to life at a free April 17 presentation at the James Weldon Johnson Branch Library.
Phyllis McEwen will portray the Eatonville native who became the toast of the Harlem Renaissance at a 1 p.m. presentation of Zora Live! The portrayal is based on what Neale, who died in 1960, wrote in her books, letters, autobiography and public papers.
A former University of South Florida research librarian, McEwen has done presentations for the Florida Humanities Council for 10 years. In Zora Live! she will tell stories Hurston collected in turpentine and lumber camps and sing songs that came from jook joints. There will be discussion about Hurston's 1937 book, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
The James Weldon Johnson branch library is at 1059 18th Ave. S.
