(James Mercer) Langston Hughes (1902-67) was born in Joplin, Missouri, and educated at Lincoln University (Pennsylvania). He worked as a seaman, busboy and teacher in several American cities and abroad. He studied in the Soviet Union and, during the Spanish civil war, was Madrid correspondent for a Baltimore periodical. His short stories were collected in several anthologies including The Ways of White Folks (1934), Simple Speaks His Mind (1950), Simple Takes a Wife (1953), and Best of Simple (1961). His collections of poetry writing include The Weary Blues (1926), The Dream Keeper (1932), Shakespeare in Harlem (1942), and Fields of Wonder (1947). Hughes wrote the novels Not Without Laughter (1930) and Tambourines to Glory (1958) the autobiographical The Big Sea (1940) and I Wonder as I Wander (1957), and also provided the lyrics for Kurt Weill's music in the musical adaptation of Elmer Rice's STREET SCENE.