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April Meeting

What: Presentation about fiction author and Augusta native Frank Yerby by Dr. Roscoe Williams of Paine College.
Where: Augusta Public Library, 902 Greene Street, 2nd floor auditorium (elevator available behind the Circulation Desk on the Greene Street side of the building).
When: Thursday, April 19, 2007, 6:00 pm light meal, 6:25 pm business meeting, 6:30-7:30 pm presentation.

Who is Frank Yerby?
Augusta has the unique literary distinction of being the birthplace of Frank Garvin Yerby (1916-1991). A graduate of Haines Normal and Industrial Institute in 1933 and Paine College in 1937, he was the recipient of the O. Henry Memorial Award for best first published short story in 1944. By 1946, Frank Yerby was the first African American novelist to reach the best-sellers list in America with his first published novel, The Foxes of Harrow. The book was so well received by readers that 20th Century Fox purchased the movie rights to the book, thus earning Mr. Yerby the distinction of being the first African American to have a novel adapted by a major studio. With more than thirty-three published novels in his lifetime and more than seventy million books sold in eighty-two countries and twenty-three languages, it is estimated that Frank Yerby has sold more books than all other African American authors combined. (courtesy of Lucy Laney Museum)