By A Treasure Coast essay by Paul Janensch
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wqcs/local-wqcs-938545.mp3
Fort Pierce, FL – A new novel depicts Zora Neale Hurston - the African American writer who died penniless in Fort Pierce 50 years ago - as a fourth grader investigating a grisly murder around 1900. The title is "Zora and Me." The authors are Victoria Bond and Tanya R. Simon, two professional black women who wanted to weave a story around a spunky black girl. Although "Zora and Me" is aimed at young readers, adults will enjoy it too. It's a piece of fiction, but the setting is real - the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida, where the real Zora Neale Hurston, spent her girlhood. She went on to become a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance cultural movement and a highly respected writer of fiction and non-fiction about the black experience. Zora spent her last years in Fort Pierce - forgotten and scratching out a living as a teacher and a writer for a black community newspaper. Today she is more famous than ever. All this year, a Zorafest of events in Fort Pierce marked the golden anniversary of her death. The fictitious Zora is a teller of tales who convinces two friends -- Teddy and the narrator Carrie -- that the murderer is a swamp creature half-man and half-gator. Does she solve the crime? To find out, read "Zora and Me." For 88.9 FM, this is Paul Janensch.
Treasure Coast essayist Paul Janensch was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.