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Grand achievements

As president of Hillsborough Community College's Ybor City campus, a great-niece of Zora Neale Hurston has made her mark in a quieter, but no less important, way.

By LETITIA STEIN
Published July 2, 2004

VALRICO - As it has a way of doing, life wrote Lois Hurston Gaston's story in unexpected ways.

Growing up in Illinois, Gaston heard stories about a famous great-aunt from Florida. She never met the exotic author named Zora Neale Hurston or read her books.

Years passed. Gaston started college, married and dropped out to raise children. She returned to school as a single mother determined to pursue a career in education, a path that would bring her full circle with her family roots.

Although she hated the heat, Gaston moved to Valrico in 1992 to work for Hillsborough Community College. By then, her famous relative had died. But she bonded with surviving family members over the works of her late great-aunt, Hurston, a black author of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s and 1940s.

Hurston died penniless and her works were largely forgotten until the 1970s. Today, she is considered one of the nation's leading black writers whose works are required reading for schoolchildren across the nation.

Hurston's writings were personal for Gaston, who first read her great-aunt's books as an adult. In the pages of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Gaston found characters whose exploits sounded vaguely familiar, like tales told that one might hear at family reunions.

Gaston studied Hurston's life during an annual festival to celebrate the author at her former home in Eatonville, near Orlando. On the surface, the women appeared to have little in common. Hurston was outspoken and flamboyant. Gaston speaks softly and is intensely private.

But family traits run deep. Like Gaston, several of Hurston's surviving family members are educators and share similar personality traits.

"I guess you can be separated, but certain things that are important in a family just must be passed from generation to generation," Gaston said. "We're very close now." For the past 10 years, Gaston has been one of two family members representing Hurston's estate.

The family connection opened a new chapter to an already full life. Gaston lived in Germany for three years with a husband in the military. Two of her three children were born there. She later divorced, returned to school and eventually earned a doctorate in educational administration at Illinois State University.

She also remarried. Eric, her husband of 15 years, is a former Marine who works for the city of Tampa. The couple share a love for travel, literature and card games.

A working mother, Gaston defined her career path by her close connection to the needs of nontraditional students. As an educator, she quickly gravitated to the specific niche filled by community colleges, where she climbed the administrative ranks.

As director of student services at Illinois Central College in East Peoria, she started a student organization called "Tomorrow's Black Leaders." The organization, which has been renamed, still works to develop future leaders from diverse backgrounds.

Since May 1992, Gaston has run the Ybor campus of Hillsborough Community College. During her tenure, Gaston guided the campus through significant renovations, helped to establish an annual movie festival and developed new academic offerings in dance and the performing arts.

Gaston also established programs in technical fields with high-paying jobs, such as automobile repair and radio and television broadcast.

"It's an opportunity to do more for people," said Gaston, who finds renewed inspiration with each graduating class. "I've enjoyed every position that I've had."

After a heart attack this winter, Gaston is mulling retirement in the near future. She plans to travel, garden and relax by the pool at her Valrico home.

And she is looking for new challenges. Gaston would like to take a page from her great-aunt's life and try her hand at writing.

"I have a couple of thoughts," Gaston said.

- Letitia Stein can be reached at 661-2443 or lstein@sptimes.com

AGE: 67.

OCCUPATION: President, Hillsborough Community College-Ybor City.

FAMILY: Husband, Eric; children, Harold Potts, 45, Jobryna Dupree, 47, Michael Potts, 43.

FAVORITE ZORA NEALE HURSTON BOOK: Their Eyes Were Watching God.

PRESERVING ZORA'S LEGACY: "Her legacy has been left in our care. It's a fragile thing. You don't want to do anything that would disrespect her in any way."

[Last modified July 1, 2004, 11:25:16]