American writer, librarian, and outspoken defender of the Gullah language. She authored poetry and books in the Gullah language and produced popular recordings in Gullah. She was also involved in theater and film productions that promoted popular understanding of the language.
Gullah (also called Gullah-English, Sea Island Creole English, and Geechee) is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people (also called “Geechees” within the community), an African-American population living in coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia (including urban Charleston and Savannah) as well as extreme northeastern Florida and the extreme southeast of North Carolina.
Geraty produced a popular long-playing record with amusing anecdotes in Gullah. She wrote a Gullah-English dictionary, a Gullah cookbook, and a Gullah adaptation of the children’s book The Night Before Christmas. She also wrote the script and served as the dialect coach for the award-winning film Gullah Tales in which the characters speak entirely in Gullah, and she served as a consultant to the BBC production The Story of English. Geraty translated the libretto of Porgy & Bess into Gullah and produced her version of the famous opera for audiences in Charleston. She also wrote a Christmas book dedicated to her great grandchildren Luke and Anna.
Virginia Geraty died on 27 November 2004 at age 89 in Charleston, South Carolina.
Link to Wikipedia biography