Jewogle - Fannie Hurst

Biography:

Fannie Hurst (October 19, 1889 - February 23, 1968) was an American novelist. Although her books are not well remembered today, during her lifetime some of her more famous novels were Stardust (1919), Lummox (1923), A President is Born (1927), Back Street (1931), and Imitation of Life (1933).

Hurst was born in Hamilton, Ohio, the only surviving child of a well-to-do Jewish family. She spent the first twenty years of her life in St. Louis, Missouri, where she attended Washington University in St. Louis and graduated in 1909. In 1915 she married Jacques S. Danielson of New York, a pianist, but the marriage was not announced until five years later.

In 1921, Hurst was among the first to join the Lucy Stone League, an organization that fought for women to preserve their maiden names. She was active in the Urban League, and was appointed to the National Advisory Committee to the Works Progress Administration in 1940. She was also a delegate to the World Health Organization in 1952.

Hurst is now best known for the screen adaptations of her works, such as the 1934 film Imitation of Life and the 1959 remake.

F. Scott Fitzgerald presciently described her as one of several authors "not producing among 'em one story or novel that will last 10 years." This Side of Paradise, 1920

The first full biography of Hurst was published in 1999 by Brooke Kroeger.

Bibliography:

Story collections:

Just Around the Corner (1914)
Every Soul Hath Its Song (1916)
Gaslight Sonatas (1918)
Humoresque (1919)
The Vertical City (1922)
Song of Life (Knopf, 1927)
Procession (1929)
We are Ten (1937)

Novels:

Stardust: The Story of an American Girl (1921)
Lummox (1923)
Mannequin (Knopf, 1926)
Appassionata (Knopf 1926)
A President is Born (1928)
Five and Ten (1929)
Back Street (1931)
Imitation of Life (1933)
Anitra's Dance (1934)
Great Laughter (1936)
Lonely Parade (1942)
Hallelujah (1944)
The Hands of Veronica (1947)
Anywoman (1950)
The Man with One Head (1951)
Family! (1960)
God Must Be Sad (1961)
Fool, Be Still (1964)

Autobiography:

Anatomy of Me: A Wonderer in Search of Herself (1958)

Miscellaneous:

No Food with My Meals (1935)
White Christmas (1942)