Fun Facts Friday: DuBose Heyward

DuBose Heyward (31 August, 1885 – 16 June, 1940) was an American author, he wrote a 1925 novel called Porgy, which was turned into the opera Porgy and Bess.

Books by DuBose Heyward*

Fun Facts about DuBose Heyward:

1. Heyward was born in Charleston, SC.
2. One of the author’s ancestors, Thomas Heyward, Jr., was a judge who signed the Declaration of Independence for South Carolina.
3. As a child Mr. Heyward was sick often. At age 18 he contracted polio, at 20 it was typhoid fever, at 21 he was plagued with pleurisy.
4. Even though he dropped out of high school at the age of 14, he was always interested in literature and read a lot when confined to his bed.
5. While staying at MacDowell Colony, an artists’ colony in New Hampshire, in 1992 Mr. Heyward met Dorothy Khuns, a playwright, who became his wife.
6. The couple had one daughter, Jenifer Dubose Heyward who was a sculptor, actress and an accomplished dancer who became a member of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
7. In 1925 Mr. Heyward published his best known novel, Porgy. Two years later Mrs. Heyward adapted the book to a play and both worked together with George Gershwin to put together the opera Porgy and Bess in 1935.
8. Heyward worked closely with Ira Gershwin on the lyrics to Porgy and Bess, even though he did not get much of the credit.
9. Porgy and Bess was adapted to be a major motion picture in 1959.
10. Heyward wrote several other novels, and even a children’s book.

Books by DuBose Heyward*

Zohar — Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account