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Book Nine Florida Stories

    Book Details:
  • Author : Marjory Stoneman Douglas
  • Publisher : University Press of Florida
  • Release : 1990
  • ISBN : 9780813009940
  • Pages : 198 pages

Download or read book Nine Florida Stories written by Marjory Stoneman Douglas and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 1990 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A collection of tales boiling with real estate dealers, egret poachers, rumrunners, mango growers, sportsmen, land grubbers, murderers, and mosquitoes. First printed in The Saturday Evening Post during the 1920s, '30s, and '40s, these stories constitute a rip-snorting glimpse back to a South Florida that now exists only in memory."--Miami Herald "Reflects the same concerns found in her better-known non-fiction work--a fascination with the beauty of Florida and a warning against its imminent destruction."--Tallahassee Democrat The subjects that would fire Marjory Stoneman Douglas's enthusiasm for the rest of her life first appeared in her short fiction published in the 1920s. Florida's most celebrated environmentalist, the author of The Everglades: River of Grass, wrote even then about protecting South Florida's fragile ecosystem and the state's endangered species, about the dangers of short-sighted land development, and about Florida history. The nine stories in this first collection take place in a scattering of South Florida settings--Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, the Tamiami Trail, the Keys, the Everglades--and reveal the drama of hurricanes and plane crashes, of kidnappers, escaped convicts, and smugglers. Editor Kevin McCarthy relates each story to Douglas's life and points out the autobiographical touches which surface frequently in her stories.

Book Nine Florida Stories

    Book Details:
  • Author : Marjory Stoneman Douglas
  • Publisher :
  • Release : 1990
  • ISBN : 9780813009827
  • Pages : 0 pages

Download or read book Nine Florida Stories written by Marjory Stoneman Douglas and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nine stories in this first collection, satisfyingly diverse in plot and theme, take place in a scattering of South Florida settings - Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, the Tamiami Trail, the Keys, Hillsboro Inlet, the Everglades, In among the drama of hurricanes and plane crashes, of kidnappers, escaped convicts, and smugglers, Douglas plants flags that mark the stories as her own: plume hunters who threaten Florida's ibises, irrational schemes to drain the Everglades, what happens when human beings collide with nature in the form of water, weather, or wildlife. The author whose 'River of Grass' awoke Florida and the nation to the environmental crisis facing the Everglades reminds us in these stories of a Florida, then as now, as fragile, varied, and intriguing as a Sanibel Island shell collection.

Book The Nine Lives of Florida s Famous Key Marco Cat

Download or read book The Nine Lives of Florida s Famous Key Marco Cat written by Austin J. Bell and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2021-09-21 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Secrets of an iconic artifact Florida Book Awards, Bronze Medal for Florida Nonfiction Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Award for Meritorious Achievement in Preservation Communications Excavated from a waterlogged archaeological site on the shores of subtropical Florida by legendary anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing in 1896, the Key Marco Cat has become a modern icon of heritage, history, and local identity. This book takes readers into the deep past of the artifact and the Native American society in which it was created. Austin Bell explores nine periods in the life of the six-inch-high wooden carving, beginning with how it was sculpted with shell and shark-tooth tools and what it may have represented to the ancient Calusa—perhaps a human-panther god. Preserved in the muck for centuries on Marco Island and discovered in pristine condition due to its oxygen-free environment, the Cat has since traveled more than 12,000 miles and has been viewed by millions of people. It is one of the Smithsonian Institution’s most irreplaceable items. In this fascinating account, Bell traces the clues to the Cat’s mysterious origins that have emerged in its later lives. Captivating readers with the miracle and beauty of this rare example of pre-Columbian art, Bell marvels at how an object originally understood to hold cosmological power has indeed transformed the people and places around it. The Nine Lives of Florida’s Famous Key Marco Cat is the story of a timeless masterpiece of staggering simplicity that has prevailed over impossibly long odds.

Book Nine Stories

    Book Details:
  • Author : J. D. Salinger
  • Publisher : Little, Brown
  • Release : 2019-08-13
  • ISBN : 0316459984
  • Pages : 151 pages

Download or read book Nine Stories written by J. D. Salinger and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2019-08-13 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "original, first-rate, serious, and beautiful" short fiction (New York Times Book Review) that introduced J. D. Salinger to American readers in the years after World War II, including "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and the first appearance of Salinger's fictional Glass family. Nine exceptional stories from one of the great literary voices of the twentieth century. Witty, urbane, and frequently affecting, Nine Stories sits alongside Salinger's very best work--a treasure that will passed down for many generations to come. The stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut Just Before the War with the Eskimos The Laughing Man Down at the Dinghy For Esmé--with Love and Squalor Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period Teddy

Book A River in Flood  and Other Florida Stories

Download or read book A River in Flood and Other Florida Stories written by Marjory Stoneman Douglas and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About Nine Florida Stories by Marjory Stoneman Douglas: "Written as entertainment for a mass market . . . crammed with colorful characters, vivid incidents and palpable atmosphere. . . . A reminder of a Florida gone by or fast disappearing."--Orlando Sentinel "Reflects the same concerns found in her better-known non-fiction work--a fascination with the beauty of Florida and a warning against its imminent destruction."--Tallahassee Democrat In the pantheon of Florida writers, Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998) is cherished as the grande dame. Famous as the author of The Everglades: River of Grass, prolific as a writer, and passionate as an environmental crusader for almost a century, she became the nation's best link to a remarkable era in Florida history. The timeless themes of her stories in this new collection resonate with interest for readers today. Whether the subject is hurricanes, cockfighting, real estate deals, struggling immigrants, or corruption in the Everglades, Douglas wrote about it with distinction--and usually first. Originally published in the Saturday Evening Post during the 1920s and 1930s, the golden age of the short story, these nine works have never before been collected or available in one place. Kevin M. McCarthy, who edited the companion volume, Nine Florida Stories by Marjory Stoneman Douglas, offers an introduction to each story, explaining its significance, setting, unusual references, place in Douglas's works, and significance to the history of South Florida. Kevin M. McCarthy, professor of English and Florida studies at the University of Florida, is the author or editor of nineteen other books, including Florida Lighthouses, Florida Stories, and More Florida Stories (published by the University Press of Florida). The stories: "At Home on the Marcel Waves" "Solid Mahogany" "Goodness Gracious, Agnes" "A River in Flood" "The Mayor of Flamingo" "Stepmother" "You Got to Go, But You Don't Have to Come Back" "High-Goal Man" "Wind Before Morning"

Book Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Download or read book Marjory Stoneman Douglas written by Marjory Stoneman Douglas and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-10-01 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born in Minnesota in 1890 and raised and educated in Massachusetts, Marjory Stoneman Douglas came to Florida in 1915 to work for her father, who had just started a newspaper called the Herald in a small town called Miami. In this "frontier" town, she recovered from a misjudged marriage, learned to write journalism and fiction and drama, took on the fight for feminism and racial justice and conservation long before those causes became popular, and embarked on a long and uncommonly successful voyage into self-understanding. Way before women did this sort of thing, she recognized her own need for solitude and independence, and built her own little house away from town in an area called Coconut Grove. She still lives there, as she has for over 40 years, with her books and cats and causes, emerging frequently to speak, still a powerful force in ecopolitics. Marjory Stoneman Douglas begins this story of her life by admitting that "the hardest thing is to tell the truth about oneself" and ends it stating her belief that "life should be lived so vividly and so intensely that thoughts of another life, or a longer life, are not necessary." The voice that emerges in between is a voice from the past and a voice from the future, a voice of conviction and common sense with a sense of humor, a voice so many audiences have heard over the years—tough words in a genteel accent emerging from a tiny woman in a floppy hat—which has truly become the voice of the river.

Book They Dared to Dream

    Book Details:
  • Author : Doris Weatherford
  • Publisher : University Press of Florida
  • Release : 2015-05-26
  • ISBN : 081305933X
  • Pages : 433 pages

Download or read book They Dared to Dream written by Doris Weatherford and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Well-crafted and in-depth, They Dared to Dream has moved women, their experiences, and their contributions to the forefront of Florida's history and heritage. This is a long-overdue and much-needed turning point in understanding our state's past and present."--Canter Brown Jr., coeditor of The Varieties of Women's Experiences "Represents a leap forward in the study of Florida history. Weatherford has done an outstanding job of researching and writing about Florida women, from paupers to queens, elevating their status to a level of equality within the overall story of Florida."--Rodney Kite-Powell, Saunders Foundation Curator of History at the Tampa Bay History Center and editor of Tampa Bay History "Exhaustively researched, well written, and engaging, They Dared to Dream breaks new ground in the study of Florida. Doris Weatherford's ambitious history of women in Florida will be widely read and discussed. From Princess Ulele to Alex Sink, from the role of criollas in Colonial St. Augustine to the struggles of women in the twenty-first century, Weatherford chronicles their lives in the Sunshine State."--Gary Mormino, author of Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams In this extensive portrayal of Florida's guiding matriarchs, Doris Weatherford highlights the myriad contributions women have made throughout Florida's history. From the select few who traveled with Ponce de Leon to the state's first female mayor Marion H. O’Brien, Weatherford sheds light on the roles these pioneering women played in the shaping of the Sunshine State. They Dared to Dream reveals the lifestyles and achievements of women throughout landmark moments in history, including Native civilizations before the arrival of European colonists; early Spanish, British, and French exploration, the Civil War era, Reconstruction, the early twentieth century, and the population explosions post-World War II. Featuring often-celebrated personalities--including Mary Martha Reid, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton--alongside the lesser-known lives of Princess Murat, lighthouse keeper Barbara Mabrity, Florida Memorial College founder Sarah Ann Blocker, and others--this pivotal examination of Florida's female agents of change draws attention to women's instrumental roles in the historical events that defined the Sunshine State. From prehistoric times to the space age, the female half of the population has made giant, but too often unacknowledged, contributions to Florida history. Countless women have overcome great obstacles and yet are often left out of historical accounts. They Dared to Dream aims to fill in some of these gaps by celebrating the many successes women have made. Because without women, there is no history--nor any future. Doris Weatherford is the author of A History of the American Suffragist Movement and other reference guides on American women’s history. The Florida Commission on the Status of Women Foundation, Inc., is dedicated to empowering women and girls in our state by supporting educational, entrepreneurial and self sufficiency programs and initiatives through grants, mentoring, and other opportunities. The FCSW Foundation supports the work and programs of the Florida Commission on the Status of Women, including the Florida Women's Hall of Fame. The Florida Commission on the Status of Women Foundation, Inc. dedicates this book to: the women of the past who struggled to achieve gender equality and showed the path, the women of the present who continue with the same goal, and the women of the future who will carry the baton and make us proud.--Dr. Mona Jain Acknowledgments, by the Florida Commission on the Status of Women Foundation, Inc The Florida women’s history book project could not have been completed without the cooperation and support of many people. To thank all of them who made it possible would be nearly impossible. We would, however, like to express our sincere appreciation to those who have helped take this endeavor "from dream to reality." First and foremost, we are indebted forever to our nine founding members as well as to the generous donors to the History Book Project. Next, our thanks go to the charter members: Nancy Acevedo, Claudia Kirk Barto, Susanne Hebert, Laura McLeod, Dr. Jeanne O’Kon, Laurie Pizzo, Blanca Bichara, Dr. Mona Jain, Carrie Lee, and Kathleen Passidomo, Esq., who freely gave their time and talents. Our heartfelt thanks to Kelly Sciba and Michele Manning, who spent many, many hours of their own time to see that the project was moving forward smoothly. Special mention is also made here for the assistance given by Kimberly Mehr and Veronica Vasquez. We gratefully acknowledge Doris Weatherford for writing this comprehensive Florida women’s history book. We are also grateful to the University Press of Florida for publishing the book as well as for valuable editorial help and comments. Our special thanks to each and every one who played a part in discovering the stories behind the women that makes them unique and trailblazers. These notable women have created history. We are also thankful to many women and men for their well wishes and encouragement in order to fill a void in the history of the Sunshine State. Together we empower each other. Last but not least the foundation members offer our deepest sense of appreciation to our families for believing in us as well as for their unwavering moral support. To all others we have omitted inadvertently, please accept our sincere apologies and thanks. According to the old saying, "To err is human and to forgive is divine." Florida Commission on the Status of Women Foundation, Inc. Founding Members, "Visionaries" Blanca C. Bichara, Miami Cheryl Holley, Tampa Dr. Anila Jain, Bradenton-Sarasota Dr. Mona Jain, Bradenton-Sarasota Carrie E. Lee, Gainesville Marie Flore Lindor-Latortue, Miami Janet Mabry, Gulf Breeze Representative Kathleen Passidomo, Esq., Naples Debbie Sembler, Pinellas Park Donors, from "Vision" to "Reality" This Florida Women’s History Book Project has been made possible due to the generosity of the following: Hawa Allarakhia, Bradenton Blanca C. and Ricardo Bichara, Miami Eugenia Price Joyce Blackburn Foundation Brighthouse Networks of Manatee County for Rose Carlson, Bradenton Leah Brown, Bradenton Betty Chambliss, Bradenton LaDonna Cloud, Sarasota Community Foundation of Tampa Bay for Alex Sink, CFO Representative Faye Culp, Tampa Lynn and Dr. Arthur Guilford, Sarasota Gini Hyman, Sarasota Dr. Mona and Kailash Jain, Bradenton-Sarasota Kappa Delta Foundation, Inc. for Dr. Anila Jain, Chair, Bradenton-Sarasota Carrie E. and Dennis Lee, Gainesville Manatee and Sarasota Commissions on the Status of Women Miami-Dade Commission for Women Dorothy Middleton, Bradenton JoAnn Morgan, Melbourne Representative Kathleen Passidomo, Esq., Naples Mary Runnells, Bradenton Linda Simmons, Tampa St. Petersburg Times Fund (Lynda Keever) Mariamma and Dr. George Thomas, Bradenton University of South Florida for Dr. Judy Genshaft, President Amy VanDell, Bradenton Anne Voss, Tampa Renee Warmak, Tampa Senator Marlene Woodson-Howard, Bradenton

Book Homegrown in Florida

Download or read book Homegrown in Florida written by William McKeen and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthology of stories by writers who grew up in Florida.

Book More Florida Stories

Download or read book More Florida Stories written by Kevin McCarthy and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This companion volume to the popular Florida Stories offers readers another sampling from the rich heritage of Florida short fiction. The collection ranges across a gallery of original characters and 150 years of the state's history and culture. Selections in this volume highlight distinctively Floridian settings and experiences, from W. B. Thompson's report of the Indian assault on the Cape Florida Lighthouse during the Second Seminole War to Padgett Powell's tale of the backroads personalities and attractions of present-day Florida.

Book The State You re In

    Book Details:
  • Author : Craig Pittman
  • Publisher : University Press of Florida
  • Release : 2021-08-09
  • ISBN : 0813065968
  • Pages : 296 pages

Download or read book The State You re In written by Craig Pittman and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2021-08-09 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jump into the wacky, wild world of Florida For more than 30 years, investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Craig Pittman has chronicled the wildest stories Florida has to offer. Featuring a selection of columns that have appeared in the Tampa Bay Times and other outlets throughout Pittman’s career, this book highlights just how strange and wonderful Florida can be. With a folksy style, an eye for the absurd, and a passion for the history and environment of his home state, Pittman describes some of Florida’s oddest wildlife as well as its quirkiest people. The State You’re In includes a love story involving the most tattooed woman in the world, a deep dive into the state’s professional mermaid industry, and an investigation of a battle between residents of a nudist resort and the U.S. Postal Service. Pittman introduces readers to a who’s who of Florida crime fiction, a what’s what of exotic animals, and an array of beloved places he’s seen change rapidly in his lifetime. Many of these stories are funny, some are serious, and several offer rare insights into the heart of the Sunshine State. For Pittman, Florida is both inspiring and dangerous—an “evolutionary test” for those who live in it. Together these pieces paint a complex picture of a fascinating state longing for an identity beyond palm trees and punchlines.

Book Uncle Monday and Other Florida Tales

Download or read book Uncle Monday and Other Florida Tales written by Kristin G. Congdon and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Cat Tale

    Book Details:
  • Author : Craig Pittman
  • Publisher : Harlequin
  • Release : 2020-01-21
  • ISBN : 1488098719
  • Pages : 368 pages

Download or read book Cat Tale written by Craig Pittman and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2020-01-21 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Garden & Gun Best Book of 2020 “Witty and passionate.” —Lauren Groff “Craig Pittman has a remarkable talent for telling stories set in the Sunshine State that never fail to fascinate and entertain.”—Gilbert King “The definitive book on one of America’s least understood apex predators. The story of how Florida’s panthers were saved from extinction is one that both deserves and needs to be told.” —Dane Huckelbridge The captivating tale of the Florida panther, its survival and rescue from extinction With novelistic detail and an eye for the absurd, Craig Pittman recounts the extraordinary story of the people who brought the panther back from the brink of extinction, the ones who nearly pushed the species over the edge, and the cats that were caught in the middle. This being Florida, there's more than a little weirdness, too. An engrossing narrative of wry humor, sharp writing and exhaustive reportage, Cat Tale shows what it takes to bring one species back and what unexpected costs such a decision brings.

Book The Nix

    Book Details:
  • Author : Nathan Hill
  • Publisher : Vintage
  • Release : 2016-08-30
  • ISBN : 1101946628
  • Pages : 642 pages

Download or read book The Nix written by Nathan Hill and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2016-08-30 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction A New York Times 2016 Notable Book Entertainment Weekly's #1 Book of the Year A Washington Post 2016 Notable Book A Slate Top Ten Book NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “The Nix is a mother-son psychodrama with ghosts and politics, but it’s also a tragicomedy about anger and sanctimony in America. . . . Nathan Hill is a maestro.” —John Irving From the suburban Midwest to New York City to the 1968 riots that rocked Chicago and beyond, The Nix explores—with sharp humor and a fierce tenderness—the resilience of love and home, even in times of radical change. It’s 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Anderson—college professor, stalled writer—has a Nix of his own: his mother, Faye. He hasn’t seen her in decades, not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now she’s re-appeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news, beguiles the internet, and inflames a politically divided country. The media paints Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high-school sweetheart. Which version of his mother is true? Two facts are certain: she’s facing some serious charges, and she needs Samuel’s help. To save her, Samuel will have to embark on his own journey, uncovering long-buried secrets about the woman he thought he knew, secrets that stretch across generations and have their origin all the way back in Norway, home of the mysterious Nix. As he does so, Samuel will confront not only Faye’s losses but also his own lost love, and will relearn everything he thought he knew about his mother, and himself.

Book Starring Sally J  Freedman as Herself

Download or read book Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself written by Judy Blume and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2024-11-05 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sally J. Freedman was ten when she made herself a movie star. She would have been happy to reach stardom in New Jersey, but in 1947 her older brother Douglas became ill, so the Freedman family traveled south to spend eight months in the sunshine of Florida. That’s where Sally met her friends Andrea, Barbara, Shelby, Peter, and Georgia Blue Eyes—and her unsuspecting enemy, Adolf Hitler. Dear Chief of Police: You don’t know me but I am a detective from New Jersey. I have uncovered a very interesting case down here. I have discovered that Adolf Hitler is alive and has come to Miami Beach to retire. He is pretending to be an old Jewish man... While she watches and waits, and keeps a growing file of letters under her bed, Sally’s Hitler will play an important—though not quite starring—role in one of her grandest movie spectaculars.

Book Oh  Florida

    Book Details:
  • Author : Craig Pittman
  • Publisher : Macmillan
  • Release : 2016-07-05
  • ISBN : 1250071208
  • Pages : 413 pages

Download or read book Oh Florida written by Craig Pittman and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-07-05 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fun- and fact-filled investigation into why the Sunshine State is the weirdest but also the most influential state in the Union.

Book My Losing Season

Download or read book My Losing Season written by Pat Conroy and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2003-08-26 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply affecting coming-of-age memoir about family, love, loss, basketball—and life itself—by the beloved author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini During one unforgettable season as a Citadel cadet, Pat Conroy becomes part of a basketball team that is ultimately destined to fail. And yet for a military kid who grew up on the move, the Bulldogs provide a sanctuary from the cold, abrasive father who dominates his life—and a crucible for becoming his own man. With all the drama and incandescence of his bestselling fiction, Conroy re-creates his pivotal senior year as captain of the Citadel Bulldogs. He chronicles the highs and lows of that fateful 1966–67 season, his tough disciplinarian coach, the joys of winning, and the hard-won lessons of losing. Most of all, he recounts how a group of boys came together as a team, playing a sport that would become a metaphor for a man whose spirit could never be defeated. Praise for My Losing Season “A superb accomplishment, maybe the finest book Pat Conroy has written.”—The Washington Post Book World “A wonderfully rich memoir that you don’t have to be a sports fan to love.”—Houston Chronicle “A memoir with all the Conroy trademarks . . . Here’s ample proof that losers always tell the best stories.”—Newsweek “In My Losing Season, Conroy opens his arms wide to embrace his difficult past and almost everyone in it.”—New York Daily News “Haunting, bittersweet and as compelling as his bestselling fiction.”—Boston Herald

Book Bitten

    Book Details:
  • Author : Andrew Furman
  • Publisher : University Press of Florida
  • Release : 2014-04-15
  • ISBN : 0813047587
  • Pages : 196 pages

Download or read book Bitten written by Andrew Furman and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2014-04-15 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Andrew Furman left the rolling hills of Pennsylvania behind for a new job in Florida, he feared the worst. While he’d heard much of the fabled “southern charm,” he wondered what could possibly be charming about fist-sized mosquitoes, oppressive humidity, and ever-lurking alligators. It wasn’t long before he began to notice that the real Florida right outside his office window was very different from the stereotypes portrayed in movies, television, and even state-promoted tourism advertisements. In Bitten, Furman shares his amazement at the beautiful and the bizarre of his adopted state. Over seventeen years, he and his family have shed their Yankee sensibilities and awakened to the terra incognita of their new home. As he learns to fish for snook—a wily fish that inhabits, among other areas, the concrete-lined canals that crisscross the state—and seeks out the state’s oldest live oak, a behemoth that pre-dates Columbus, Furman realizes that falling in love with Florida is a fun and sometimes humbling process of discovery. Each chapter highlights a fascinating aspect of his journey into the natural environment he once avoided, from snail kites to lizards and cassia to coontie. Sharing his attempts at night fishing, growing native plants, birding, and hiking the Everglades, Furman will inspire you to explore the real Florida. And, if you aren’t lucky enough to reside in the Sunshine State, he’ll at least convince you to unplug for an hour or two and enjoy the natural beauty of wherever it is you call home.