Frank Yerby Author’s Bench

Cementing the Legacy of One of Augusta’s Greatest Authors

The Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History and Conference Center is excited about the installation of the Frank Yerby Author’s Bench in the gardens of the Laney Museum. The bench will pay tribute to one of the great authors of the 20 th Century, that Sly Fox, Frank Yerby. Born in Augusta, Georgia on September 5, 1916, he graduated in 1933 from the Haines Institute and 1937 from Paine College. During the course of his lifetime he published 33 novels, three of which, The Foxes of Harrow, The Saracen Blade, and The Golden Hawk, were adapted into major motion pictures. He sold nearly 60 million copies of his books worldwide and had 12 New York Times bestsellers.

The authors bench, constructed by artist Craig Berube-Gray, will feature many of Mr. Yerby’s works, to include published novels, unpublished novels, short stories and an excerpt from a poem he wrote in honor of Lucy Craft Laney, the founder of the Haines Institute.

Toni Dean, Program Manager of the Laney museum writes, “Frank Yerby’s success as a writer speaks to the impact of the education he received as a student at the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute. His level of success makes sense when you trace it back to the fact that his foundational years were shaped by such a visionary and trailblazer as Miss Lucy Craft Laney. Frank Yerby died on November 29, 1991 in Madrid, Spain.

Corey Rogers, Executive Director of the Laney Museum remarks, “I believe that this author’s bench will serve as a permanent reminder to visitors to the Laney Museum of the importance of Frank Yerby and the global impact that many Augustans have had on the world. Thank you to the Porter Fleming Foundation for giving us this opportunity to showcase many of the works of that Sly Fox.”