Charleston, SC, Author Edwin DuBose Heyward (1885-1940) , best known as the author of  the novel PORGY (1925), which he and his wife Dorothy transformed into a stage play, which in turn he and George Gershwin turned into the opera PORGY AND BESS,  actually wrote several other books and plays.

Mamba's Daughters, also dramatized (and still occasionally performed), was first published in 1929. Peter Ashley (1932) Lost Morning (1936) and Star Spangled Virgin (1939) all show Heyward's refusal to rest on the laurels of  Porgy's success.  This diligence is all the more remarkable when one recognizes that Heyward was nearly 40 before  Porgy was published.  All of these books surface occasionally on eBay and all  stand up reasonably well to a modern reader's critical eye- at least if the reader  takes into account Heyward's own  place in time and the vocabulary  he used without worry of political correctness. Heyward was  probably the first White Southern author to portray Black subjects  sympathetically and as  more than mere caricatures. Still,  what was revolutionary for 1926 may seem reactionary 80 years later.

I began this guide as a review of my favorite Heyward book, a slender ghost story called THE HALF PINT FLASK, which has also been dramatized, not by Heyward, but by the excellent folks at SC Public Television, including  introductory remarks by  (now) Wofford College president Bernie Dunlap, taking the role otherwise held by Alistair Cook.  THE HALF PINT FLASK, including illustrations, runs to 55 pages and  it will only occupy an hour of your time.  Once you have read it, though, you may want to keep a copy  handy, or certainly provide it to guests, particularly if you are fortunate enough to host them in a place along the coast, as Heyward's narrator hosts the arrogant and ill-fated Professor Barksdale.  The flask in the title is a rare bottle, removed by  Barksdale from a grave mound, with dire results that fill the rest of the book and the reader's imagination.  Like all spooky stories, it works best in the dark.  Be warned, again Heyward's  1925 choice of words may be offensive to some. If you are reading the story  aloud, it may be worthwhile to read it in advance and make slight amendments in the name of changing times.  It is only a word and the author's attitude seems respectful enough to this reader.

Heyward also wrote and contributed to several volumes of poetry, as well as writing articles, introductions to other books, etc. He is recognized as one of the literary leaders of the Charleston renaissance. (You may wish to see my guide to Artists of the Charleston Renaissance and my review of Ann McAden and Boyd Saunders' excellent  ALFRED HUTTY AND THE CHARLESTON RENAISSANCE, also in this space.)

  Ironically, the great success of Porgy and Bess came well after Heyward's death. Its Broadway debut ran for 124 performances, not bad for an opera, but not too impressive for the musicals it competed with.  A 1942 revival did better, but better still was yet another revival in 1951, starring Cab Calloway and then- 24 year old Leontyne Price.  By then, DuBose Heyward  had been dead over ten years, George Gershwin closer to fifteen.  According to Heyward biographer James M. Hutchisson, the opera was not performed in Charleston until 1970. Since then, it has been performed with greater and greater frequency.  At the beginning of the 1985 film WHITE KNIGHTS, Gregory Hines portrays an American actor who has defected to the Soviet Union. His reward is playing Heyward and Gershwin's  "Sportin Life" in Siberia.

DuBose Heyward books remain relatively inexpensive, though prices vary considerably among titles and editions. eBay is an excellent source for them.