Porgy's Ghost

On the world stage the opera <i>Porgy and Bess </i>is acclaimed as a distinctively American yet universal classic. Though scholars and the popular press have discussed it for nearly one hundred years no one has factored in the major contributions of one of its forgotten authors--until now. Besides serving as a brief biography that illuminates Dorothy Heyward's personal and professional life which ranges from lighthearted whimsy to a descent into madness what emerges in <i>Porgy's Ghost </i>is a correction to a longstanding omission of Dorothy Heyward's influence on <i>Porgy</i> the novel written by her husband; <i>Porgy</i> the play mostly her creation; and <i>Porgy and Bess</i> the opera often credited solely to George and Ira Gershwin. Fighting to restore her husband DuBose Heyward's name to that work she hid her own contributions to maximize his. Based on years of research in her archives and previously unknown materials author Harlan Greene reveals a cypher of a woman who in her lifetime and long after was dismissed as unimportant.