DuBose Heyward

Born: August 31, 1885-Charleston, SC Died: June 16, 1940-Tyron, NC (aged 54) He is remembered for his 1925 novel "Porgy." He and his wife Dorothy, a playwright, adapted it as a 1927 play of the same name. The couple worked with composer George Gershwin to adapt the work as the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. It was later adapted as a 1959 film of the same name. Heyward had a long interest in the South Carolina black culture, even performing in a Gullah singing group, and used his observations as a basis for "Porgy".Drawing Catfish Row from local geography and the crippled beggar Porgy from "Goat Cart Sam" Smalls, he created a work that was praised by some for showing blacks in a sympathetic and non-patronizing light but, was criticized by others for negative steorotypes of violence and drug use. He attended the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina. He was an insurace and real estate salesman then turned to literature once he made enough money to support himself. He died of a heart attack.