The author grew up in South Eastern PA, graduated from high school in 1950 and after several part times jobs he completed a course at Temple U. He found a job with one of this country's first foreign car dealerships in Exton PA. Later married and self employed for ten years now with three children. Both the author and his wife were tired of the cold winters, sold their business and moved to the Florida Keys. The Keys then being very laid back, sparsely populated and warm all year around was deeply appreciated. After buying a restaurant, bar with a marina in Key Largo the author got to meet all sorts of people, people of the nature he had never experienced. Actually even at the age of 37, I would feel safe in saying I grew up in the Keys, just in a manner of speaking. There were all sorts of experiences here, many unexpected. None really harmful but amusing and many times hilarious. It just was the character and nature of the residents and those passing through. The author having actually participated or witnessed some of these events, events that would likely never happen on the mainland. Life in the Keys was anything but dull, and it sure was different. Sometimes more like an adventure.
From sweet calypso music to yummy Key lime pie, this adorable board book invites little ones to explore all the sites, sounds, and tastes the Florida Keys has to offer, including conch shell blowing, boating, fishing and diving, Seven Mile Bridge, Bahia Honda State Park, Fort Jefferson, Key deer, Mallory Square, Duval Street, treasure hunting, sea life, and more.
Curated from the archives of FORUM, the award-winning magazine of Florida Humanities, this anthology presents 50 often surprising and always intriguing stories of life in Florida by some of the nation’s most talented writers and scholars Once Upon a Time in Florida transports readers into the eventful life and times of this remarkable state through 50 stories vividly rendered by some of the nation’s most acclaimed writers and scholars, along with 150 evocative images. This collection opens more than 14,000 years ago with the first people to inhabit the peninsula and continues through the state’s territorial beginnings, the era of slavery, statehood, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Jim Crow period, and Florida’s transformation into a complex, powerful megastate. Throughout, readers will encounter the unexpected: The myth-busting truths behind Ponce de Leon’s search for the Fountain of Youth; the real First Thanksgiving; the first legally sanctioned free Black town; the revealing wartime letters of novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; the Jacksonville principal who penned the lyrics now known as the Black National Anthem; and the little-known story of how Mary McLeod Bethune saved World War II‒era Daytona Beach. The stories also highlight Florida as a magnet for dreamers and doers, featuring the heady days of the Space Age seen through the eyes of a teenager; the secretive mission that brought Walt Disney to Orlando; the music culture that has churned out a stream of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers; and a look at how Florida’s glossy image has been indelibly shaped through the eyes of Hollywood. Told through the lens of the humanities, at its heart this anthology is the story of what it means to be a Floridian. In these pages, folklorist Stetson Kennedy travels the back roads with novelist Zora Neale Hurston, capturing vanishing stories and songs. Former U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Latina in Congress, remembers her family’s early days as Cuban refugees. Novelist Lauren Groff describes how the writings of literary giants taught her to love Florida. Columnist Bill Maxwell and novelist Beverly Coyle, who grew up in the waning days of Jim Crow, share clear-eyed memories of experiences as different as black and white. And southern grit writer Harry Crews tells of a family memory evoked by the Suwannee River. There is much more to discover in this vibrant anthology, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of Florida Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and presents selections from the timeless and treasure-filled archives of Florida Humanities’ award-winning FORUM magazine. Contributors: Jerald T. Milanich | J. Michael Francis | Michael Gannon | Kathleen Deagan | Darcie A. MacMahon | Larry Eugene Rivers | Robert A. Taylor | Casey Blanton | Rick Kilby | Gary R. Mormino | Stetson Kennedy | Betty Jean Steinshouer | Gordon Patterson | Rick Edmonds | Andrea Brunais | Steven Noll | Richard Foglesong | Eric Deggans | Bill Maxwell | Beverly Coyle | David R. Colburn | Nila Do Simon | Stephen J. Whitfield | Willie Johns | Ron Cunningham | Jon Wilson | Dalia Colón | Bill DeYoung | Maude Heurtelou | Lauren Groff | Maurice J. O’Sullivan | Michele Currie Navakas | Craig Pittman | Thomas Hallock | Edna Buchanan | Philip Caputo | Gary Monroe | Peter B. Gallagher | Bob Kealing | Jack E. Davis | Charlie Hailey | Terry Tomalin | Bill Belleville | Cynthia Barnett | Jack E. Davis | Jeff Klinkenberg | Harry Crews Distributed on behalf of Florida Humanities
Instant New York Times bestseller One of Bustle’s Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2020 “The perfect riveting summer read!”—BookBub In 1935 three women are forever changed when one of the most powerful hurricanes in history barrels toward the Florida Keys. For the tourists traveling on Henry Flagler’s legendary Overseas Railroad, Labor Day weekend is an opportunity to forget the economic depression gripping the nation. But one person’s paradise can be another’s prison, and Key West-native Helen Berner yearns to escape. After the Cuban Revolution of 1933 leaves Mirta Perez’s family in a precarious position, she agrees to an arranged marriage with a notorious American. Following her wedding in Havana, Mirta arrives in the Keys on her honeymoon. While she can’t deny the growing attraction to her new husband, his illicit business interests may threaten not only her relationship, but her life. Elizabeth Preston's trip to Key West is a chance to save her once-wealthy family from their troubles after the Wall Street crash. Her quest takes her to the camps occupied by veterans of the Great War and pairs her with an unlikely ally on a treacherous hunt of his own. Over the course of the holiday weekend, the women’s paths cross unexpectedly, and the danger swirling around them is matched only by the terrifying force of the deadly storm threatening the Keys.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This is the ultimate Jimmy Buffett philosophy on life and how to live it, “like sitting with Buffett at a beachside bar, listening to him spin tales” (Time). “Buffett took his family on a three-week trek around the Caribbean. . . . His colorful travelogue is interspersed with memoirs of his youth and music career—both of which revolve around his continuing search for the perfect fishing spot.”—USA Today For Parrotheads, armchair adventurers, and anyone who appreciates a good yarn and a hearty laugh, here is the ultimate backstage pass. You’ll read the kind of stories Jimmy usually reserves for his closest friends and you'll see a wonderful, wacky life through the eyes of the man who's lived it. Jimmy takes us from the legendary pirate coves of the Florida Keys to the ruins of ancient Cartegena. Along the way, we hear a tale or two of how he got his start in New Orleans, how he discovered his passion for flying planes, and how he almost died in a watery crash in Nantucket harbor. We follow Jimmy to jungle outposts in Costa Rica and on a meandering trip down the Amazon, through hair-raising negotiations with gun-toting customs officials and a three-year-old aspiring co-pilot. And he is the inimitable Jimmy Buffett through it all.
"Your new Florida Keys cruising guide is terrific, and is now my personal choice for cruising the Keys. Everywhere we went aboard Bluewater, we compared what you said with what we saw and you were virtually 100% on target." --Milt Baker This completely updated edition by the king of cruising guides provides reliable instructions and lively commentary about traveling from the Port of Miami all the way to the Dry Tortugas. Boaters may choose one of two routes to the Florida Keys, the inside route via the Intracoastal Waterway or the offshore option through Hawk Channel. In both cases, the authors pinpoint and assess obstructions, anchorages, marinas, fuel supplies, and other facilities for cruisers. Cruising the Florida Keys also contains first-hand evaluations of restaurants, cultural attractions, and historical sites, including the many things to see and do in Key West. Cruising the Florida Keys can be used alone or accompanied by Claiborne Young's Coastal Charts for Cruising the Florida Keys (sp), which contains the latest NOAA nautical charts cross-referenced to the cruising guide. These maps include anchorages, marinas, fueling stations, bridges, restaurants, historical sites, and other important bits of information for boaters.
The Florida Keys Cookbook is a fascinating combination of food history, local lore, and over 175 mouth-watering recipes showcasing the Florida Keys' bounty from Keys restaurant chefs and home cooks. Archival photographs and informative sidebars round out the newly designed full color second edition of this beautiful and treasured book that is a celebration of the paradise that is the Florida Keys.
