Friends of Dacus Library

Monday, April 8, 2013
Friends of Dacus Library Sponsor Book Talk by Authors Bela and M.H. Herlong

Bela Herlong

M.H. Herlong

A mother-daughter book talk was sponsored by the Friends group on Monday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. in Dinkins Auditorium on the campus of Winthrop.  The authors featured were Bela Herlong and her daughter, M. H. Herlong. 

Bela, a Winthrop alumna and retired educator, was recipient of the Governor’s Humanities Award in 2009, recognizing “outstanding achievement in the humanities.”  Dr. Herlong holds both a Masters degree and a PhD in English from the University of South Carolina.

A lifetime resident of Saluda County, Dr. Herlong has been involved writing, producing, and directing a number of historical dramas of the county and its people.  She also authored Breaking New Ground: A Pictorial History of Saluda County (1995) and compiled the recollections of her father in a book entitled Padgett’s My Name (2008).   Her most recent effort was co-authoring of a three-volume set entitled Where Our Paths Crossed: The Old Edgefield District Settlement of Mount Willing (2011).  Bela has been described as “a cheerful, bubbly ambassador for Saluda County.”

Bela’s daughter, Madaline H. Herlong, is juvenile fiction author, who lives in New Orleans.  She holds an undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary and both a Masters (Eng.) and law degree from the University of Virginia.

Her novel The Great Wide Sea was named one of the 2010 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association.  The book is the tale of three young boys’ survival as they confront a storm at sea in the Bahamas. Her second novel, Buddy (2012), grows out of her own experiences in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  This novel centers on a boy and his quest to find his dog and best friend Buddy after the destruction of Katrina.

The mother-daughter team described their writing careers and their various books.  The presentation was followed by a book signing.  The event is free and open to the public. 

Cultural event credit available to Winthrop students.