Zora Neale Hurston and other fun facts

I posted this a while back on the board for the 1959 film, but didn't have any response. Maybe I'll have more luck here. Hopefully some of you will find it interesting.

Fannie Hurst, author of the original novel was inspired by her relationship with her black personal assistant, the now very famous Harlem Renaissance writer, Zora Neale Hurston. Thus, you might say that the character of Delilah in the original film (Annie in the remake) could be said to be based on Zora Neale Hurston. Unlike Delilah, however, Hurston was a brilliant and stylishly modern author, folklorist and anthropologist. You may have read her most popular novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in high school. She was one of the first female "superstars" of African American Literature, and a primary influence on authors Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.

Both Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes initially praised Imitation of Life for its daring explorations of race and gender, but later retracted their statements after poor reaction from a fellow black critic.