FORT PIERCE FOLKS
The HURSTON SCHOLAR
44
ANTHONY INSWASTY PHOTOS
Marvin Hobson, president of the Zora Neale Hurston Florida Education Foundation, hopes to receive a grant to fund a literacy program for the community.
BY WENDY DWYER
Famed author Zora Neale Hurston and renowned
Zora scholar Marvin Hobson were
born in different generations and different
parts of the country. In fact, Hobson never
even heard of the author responsible for such classics
as Their Eyes Were Watching God and Dust Tracks on a
Road until he was well into his 20s.
But anyone who knows anything about Hurston
knows that when she wanted something, she usually
got it. Maybe that’s how fate connected both educators
through time and space to find a forever home in
Fort Pierce.
Originally from Riverhead on Long Island in New
York, Hobson’s family was not well-off.
“We were poor,” Hobson says, “and I wanted to
make money.”
The desire to succeed financially motivated him to
attend Farmingdale Community College for an as-
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