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We need more archival heroes in this world! I loved this. Thank you Will.

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Archival heroes unite! ❤️

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I think the Moon did follow Zora, and that we have her beautiful, unforgettable writing in this world is proof. 🌙 So so beautiful Will—the chance of someone caring for one others work, for recognizing it, is an act that echoes across the distances. Thankful for Pat Duval, his son, the ways that Zora’s magnificence is still known—and reflected. And thankful you share this all with us. 💜

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Thank you for these beautiful words, Freya. I have a suspicion the Moon follows you, too. 🌖

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Wonderful! Wonderful! I feel tongue-tied trying to express how much I loved this piece that you've written. I'm a 70yo white guy and Miss Hurston is one of my heroes. I love the lyricism of her writing - just think of how good this reply would be if she was writing it! And I guess Miss Walker must enjoy hero status for what she did bringing Miss Hurston back to the attention of the world!

It's a weird feeling knowing that I've already read the best thing I'll read all day and it's barely 0830! Thank you!

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Zora would be so happy to read this message—as am I. She's one of my personal heroes as well, and while Walker's erection of a proper headstone was much-needed, somehow Zora still feels very much alive. Her writing is electric. Thank you for leaving this generous note!

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Fantastic, Will. I love learning all this about Zora Neale Hurston, who I’ve loved since reading Their Eyes Were Watching God. It does make me so sad, though, to know that she never learned how beloved she’d once be. Maybe she did have that thirteenth vision or some version of it, though. Maybe the creating so strong in her she didn’t even remember to eat was like living it somehow.

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Thank you, Holly. Her life is such a blend of sorrow and joy. I like you're idea that she had a 13th vision during those flow states she would enter while writing. Only another writer like yourself would have conjured that possibility.

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I felt the same, Holly. My heart aches that she didn’t know how beloved her work became, how respected and integral to American literature.

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Thank you for this! Hurston is a hero in our family, in which everyone turns out to be either an artist/writer, or a social scientist.

We recently found ourselves in the Eau Gallie section of Melbourne, FL where Hurston said she had lived happily. We wanted a look at the site of the cottage where she had lived in the ‘20’s, and to which she returned in the ‘50’s. The Saturday Evening Post once published a photo of her at the typewriter there, but few other traces remain. It’s a rotten shame she couldn’t get the money together to buy the place.

Although a brown cinder block house now stands on the site of her former home, many of the older wooden cottages in the area have survived, surrounded by mossy live oaks and saw palms. The lot itself is elevated, probably due to the solid hunk of rock that juts out at the corner. The river is downhill about two blocks to the east, and you can hear the trains rattle by on the tracks about a half mile to the west.

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Thank you, Marina, for this gorgeous first-hand description of Hurston's cottage and environs. You're all too right that it's a shame she couldn't get the money to purchase her own house. If she were alive today, I imagine she would be able to make a killing on Substack.

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I've been thinking about this so much - that writing and working hard doesn't guarantee success. Fate influences success and failure more than we'd like to admit. So many artists die before they're recognized. Most never recognized at all. Social media, the internet and ease of publishing has inflamed all our delusions of grandeur. For some those delusions turn out to be true. For others, they turn out to be like believing the moon follows you. These days, it's like a spiritual practice. As much as I want to grow my audience and accomplish my dreams, I don't have control over the outcome. I think ultimately what's most important is to find joy in the process. I really admire Zora Neale Hurston and the life she lived. What a great reminder to follow our heart's calling. You. never know what the impact will be. Shame she missed out on seeing the one she made.

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I really appreciate this message, Suzanne. You bring up such good points about success and failure, delusion and self-belief. I agree we should try to focus only what we can control. But it's so hard, isn't it? We all benefit from Hurston's literary resurrection, but what about her? What was her reward? Maybe, as you say, it was the joy she found in the writing process. Thanks for giving me more to think about.

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The words moon and lie jumped out for me. The moon, a man named Bahloo, is the guardian spirit of girls. He comes and goes on a faithful journey through the sky. If a woman stares at his full lit face she will bear twins. This knowledge of the moon comes from Aboriginal Lore. The word "lies" need to be broken into two types - lies that deceive, to trick, innocents into consenting to being harmed, and lies that reveal hidden truths. Nora's dreams were revelations of the world's hidden forces, or, intimations of the Laws of Nature. An example of a lie that deceives is a 100 year old man dies of Covid. Covid is deception, a creation of wicked men to rob trusting men of wealth, life, and freedom. Nora would have known the difference between deception and dreaming. RIP dreaming Nora, and RIP all the trusting people being killed by the global satanic cabal.

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I didn't know about Bahloo from Aboriginal lore. Fascinating!

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Since I learned about her, Zora has become one of the Black people of the past I greatly admire. This new fortuitously recovered posthumous publication will be a wonderful addition to an American literary legacy unlike any others.

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What could be better than a book saved from flames?

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Few things- especially if it's going to be reprinted on paper that hasn't been burned.

This is the second time in so many years a previously unknown Zora book is coming out- "Barracoon" was in the same condition before its recovery.

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Jul 17Liked by Will Dowd

This piece gutted me…in a good way. I’m embarrassed to admit that I have not read any of her work - she was never included in the “canon” when and where I went to school. I now consider myself officially schooled, and I have a bit of homework to catch up on. Thank you, Will, for breaking my heart and educating me.

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Wow, I'm so glad this piece connected with you, Heather! I was very lucky to read Hurston in high school, but I suspect meeting her on the page as an adult will be rewarding in a different way. Her prose is gorgeous. Happy reading, my friend!

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Wonderful! Thank you so much for this dispatch. I will be thinking about it all month and revisiting Hurston's work.

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Thank you for reading this piece and especially for revisiting Hurston's books. They are gold.

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Absolutely fascinating! Thank you!

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My pleasure. Thanks for reading, Carolyn!

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Jul 2Liked by Will Dowd

I loved this -- thank you.

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I loved writing it! Glad you enjoyed it.

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Jul 2Liked by Will Dowd

I have been a fan of Zora Neale Hurston since I was an anthropology major in college in Florida back in 1979 when I started reading novels and poetry by Black women writers. Her worked bridged my passions—fiction and anthropology. Thank you for this beautiful account of her life and work.

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Wow, Amy, you and Hurston would have a lot to talk about over dinner. Sounds like you both meet at the same fascinating crossroad. It's amazing how many lives she continues to touch. Thanks for reading!

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Jul 2Liked by Will Dowd

Oh, this is such a wonderful telling of Ms. Hurston's life. Thank you!!

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You're welcome! What a life it was!

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Beautiful, Will. Love the weaving of the personal, the literary, and the cosmic.

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Thanks for reading, Tamara. So glad these threads came together for you.

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What a great story you've written! I wonder where Hurston's visions came from.

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Thanks, Roseanne. I'm not sure Hurston herself knew where these visions came from or why they descended on her. Despite her fiercely independent personality, she knew beyond doubt that these prophetic visions were unavoidable—fated. If only she were still alive so we could ask her!

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