Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Fortune, Gwendoline Y.
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1926-2014
History
Dr. Gwendoline Alpha Young Fortune , novelist, teacher, and singer, was born on September 27, 1926, in Houston, TX to Georgia Mitti McCain, pharmacist ,and William Hermon Young, physician and son of Harbison president Rev. Calvin Monroe Young. Gwendoline moved from Texas and lived in the Carolinas, Illinois, and Florida; additionally, she traveled extensively over five continents. She was a life long educator, classically trained soprano, writer, and winner of many awards. Gwendoline held a Doctor of Education, Masters of Philosophy and Science, and Bachelors of Science.
She studied voice, clarinet, and piano at Juilliard at age 14. She went on to be a beloved teacher at the elementary, secondary, and college levels. Since retiring, she published three novels: Growing Up Nigger Rich, Family Lines, and Noni and the Great Grands, with an additional memoir Outsider in the Promised Land to be published posthumously. Dr. Fortune died in Gainesville, Fl on July 27, 2014.