John Heyward DowdneyJohn Heyward Dowdney, first-time author, springs from illustrious literary and historical giants. On his paternal side: The Edwin Emerson Family Papers; Abraham Dowdney, representative from New York; and Edward Fitzgerald, British author and translatr of The Rubyait of Omar Khayyam. Dowdney is a descendant of Thomas Heyward, Jr., South Carolina's signer of the Declaration of Independence; and his maternal lineage also boasts DuBose Heyward, author of Porgy and The Country Bunny. Dowdney attended Trinity School in Manhattan and grad- uated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He spent several years in the Peace Corps in West Africa followed by twenty-five years in corporate America. When he retreated from the corporate tower, he be- came a gardener on one of South Carolina's sea islands. Read More Read Less