Florida Books

FROM BIRTH TO BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD , THE READER IS DRAWN UNWITTINGLY INTO YUSUF'S WORLD,LIKE AN ENDLESS FLOW OF THE RIVER OF LIFE, CONSISTING OF NEAR REAL CHARACTERS, HIS WORLD OF JOYS AND SORROWS, LOVE AND PASSION,WIT HUMOUR AND AGELESS WISDOM, HIS STRUGGLES TO PUT RIGHT THE WRONGS COMMITTED , INJUSTICES DONE. YUSUF IS FRANK ABOUT DESCRIBING HUMAN CRUELTY AT ITS WORST AND HUMAN PASSION AT ITS BEST - HIS FRUSTRATIONS AT HIS FAILURES AND HIS JOY IN HIS ACHIEVEMENTS AND HIS FINAL SENSE OF VICTORY IN THE BIRTH OF A NEW NATION-

Broken Milestones is an interesting and candid account of the journey from birth to manhood of the character Yusuf. The setting of the book is in the backdrop of two partitions - one of India and the other of the emergence of Bangladesh. Encapsulating the life of a civil servant in a society where once civil servants reigned supreme, it is a simply written account of a man and his varied experience in a particular historical setting. Like shadow-dancing, images are captured brilliantly in the book. The characters are colorful, yet believable and many resemble the contemporary figures of our history. The author has a flair for comic description. His style is cozy, yet he makes profound utterances with great ease. He has etched characters traversing from the comic to the poignant and his simply sketched scenes are engaging and full of intensity, not failing to do justice to the essence of the past. The book is definitely a page turner and never lets your interest flag, drawing you deeper into the book with the turn of every page. It is a book that must be read and absorbed and not flipped through. Qualitatively it is a welcome edition to an ever-increasingly rich array of South Asian books written in English.

This is a great book for all the people who love the rural wilderness in Florida. Very well researched enjoyable story with great descriptions of adventures in the Everglades over one hundred years ago but with a contemporary point of view of the heroine. Loved it.

The Bucket Flower gives the reader an opportunity to walk in the shoes of a botanist in old Florida in early 1900.

Set primarily in South Florida, the author takes the reader on an adventure from stuffy eastern society to the wilds of the everglades. Mr. Wilson follows the trail of a young female botanist who is trying to escape her overbearing father and a fiance she does not love.

As Beth pursues her dream of identifying the tropical plants of Florida, she runs into all kinds of wild creatures never before seen by this delicate "Bucket Flower" as she walks down a path of scientific and self discovery.

The descriptions are breathtaking and the story keeps you turning pages!!

Linda Bilodeau
Author: Stepping Through Seagrass
The Olive Branch A Tale of Resistance.

One day, my San Francisco 5th-grade class went to visit an exhibit about the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. While there, we met some survivors, old and ancient, but still alive with vivid memories of the disaster. To us, it had always been just something you read about. But, the survivors made the horror come alive, and suddenly we were quiet with awe and fright. This book gave me the same impression. Broken into a chronological pattern, we relive the days before, the days during, and the days after the conflagration. I couldn't put this book down! The book also told us something our beloved City always tried to hush up, and that was regarding the Bubonic Plague. The rats overran the City, due to broken sewer pipes and destruction, and with them they carried the fleas of the Plague. Astonishing. It can all happen again and reminds us how lucky Baghdad-By-The-Bay really was (only a few plague cases and no tsunami even though the Bay was lowered by four inches). You gotta get a hold of this book.

Gordon Thomas and Max Witts take the reader in detail, minute by minute into a living hell. They trace the damage done by the earthquake from its starting point out in the Pacific, ripping up onto the California coast and into the city by the bay. The earthquake broke the water and gas lines and because San Francisco was, and still is, built so close, a small fire spread. The military took over and some of the soldiers shot people without trial for looting and even not moving fast enough. And yet, the military looted items that they were suppose to guard, even the relief supplies. This book makes you feel like you are right in the middle of the action. The reader will feel like fighting the fire with the firemen, helping the common citizen trying to safe his home, or serching for a lost child for a frighten mother...not knowing if the child is dead or alive. One word comes to mind after reading this book...WOW!!!

BY STREAMLINER FROM NEW YORK TO FLORIDA by Joseph Welsh must have been one of 2002's more popular rail-oriented books; a check of Amazon for "bestseller" potential in its field brings that truth closer to light. This is not a huge surprise because, in fact, BY STREAMLINERS appeals to at least six different groups of readers, for instance:
(1) railway history buffs, of course; for there is not only a lot of solid stuff here for specialists in railway history in general but also for students of
(2) these three dominant Florida rail lines in particular -- the Seaboard Air Line, the Atlantic Coast Line and the Florida East Coast -- all lumped in with rail megasystem CSX Transportation in the 1980s (only the "S" remains to remind us of the Seaboard); not to mention
(3) those fortunate folk who rode and remembered the experience of private-company rail travel from carriers that were constantly on their mettle to be the best in the lucrative snowbelt-to-Florida service; and
(4) younger folks like me for whom the pre-Amtrak era is entirely or mostly history; not to leave out
(5) lovers of 1950s style, documentation of serious design as well as the "populuxe" kitsch of contemporary art and dress (check out the cover of this book for a starter, of a Florida-bound SAL streamliner though northern snow and under the New York - to D.C. "catenary" electric wires); and last but not least
(6) folks who just love the romance of railroading in general.

BY STREAMLINER TO FLORIDA is a close-to-irreplaceable book, of an era and milueu as familiar to us as Aunt Blanche's trip to Fort Lauderdale and as romantic and compelling as a lost empire of different lines from different companies with different operating cultures, different styles of advertising and publicity, different on-board designs, even different menus. It's loaded with photographs of people and trains, rail employees and their locomotives, sleepers, diners and coaches; also observations and photo-reduced copies of originals -- many of which appear here in a non-specialty volume for the first time (what about those vintage menus with their vintage prices?).

None of this is coming back; the era between World War II demobilization and Amtrak's May 1, 1971 inauguration is a closed field. Even routine artifacts from these well-regarded companies who kept up "Santa Fe" standards of service, without (yet) attaining the mass consciousness that Super Chiefs and Navajo turquoise enjoy, are increasingly valued. SAL, ACL, and FEC passenger timetables from the Fifties and Sixties fetch $10-15 up from vendors and rail conventions, even a little roughed-up; clean dining- and bar-car menus are worth their weight in [not gold, but] literally in silver. Today, Amtrak still operates two of the Silver Series of streamliners (with newer equipment) up the Coast and back; but while Amtrak's systemwide standardization of day coaches and diners may be familiar, it cannot replace the uniqueness and vivacity, guts and gumption of the American private passenger rail experience at its finest, pre-1971.

BY STREAMLINER was published (in paperback) in 2002 by Motor Books International (MBI), who continue to publish heavily about American railroading but whose more recent entries have tended to be similarly "small art book" sized volumes (this go-round, hardbound) about individual railroad companies from both the pre- and post-megamerger waves of the 1980s and 1990s. While we're waiting for the publisher to wise up and reprint our book, used copies are available thru Amazon but the closest they are to new, the more they cost -- over $100 in some instances. Happily, you can snag a "good"-ranked used copy for a lot less.

BTW -- If, after this treat, you want to read a well written and fairly comprehensive history of American railroading 1970-2000, one place to start is MAIN LINES by Richard Saunders, Jr., available here (2008) in print.

Beautifully illustrated, lovingly detailed; Joe Welsh has done a fantastic job of documenting the history of passenger service to Florida via Seaboard Air Line, Atlantic Coast Line, and Florida East Coast, from the late 1800's up until Amtrak. A must-have book for anyone interested in those railroads, or in passenger trains. Loaded with great pictures of famous and not-so-famous trains, inside and out, as well as many actual train consists for given dates down through the years on particular routes. A wealth of information about just about every aspect of passenger service on these roads between Florida and the Northeast. A great read for any railfan.

Are you a Floridian or thinking about moving to Florida, particularly in the southern portion of the state? Then you must read "The Calusa and Their Legacy: South Florida People And Their Environments..." -- the definitive book on the Calusa. Darcie A. Macmahon and Dr. William H. Marquardt, an expert on the Calusa, have written a fascinating book that brings to life a group of people who disappeared from Florida in the 1700s. For hundreds of years, the Calusa built a society that had its own government, a religion, and adaptation to the environment that is quite impressive. On the one hand, the Calusa were warriors, practiced human sacrifices, and held spiritual beliefs which included communing with the dead. On the other hand, they governed a growing population, accomplished engineering feats of dredging canals through entire islands, were expert fisherman, and utilized shells and bones that would become tools, weapons and ornaments. They lived entirely off the land and waters, eating small game and fish of many varieties. They had no agriculture; none was needed, as they learned to live off what nature provided. These self-sufficient people did well until the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. History books report that when Juan Ponce de Leon visited Southwest Florida in the early part of the 1500s, on his second expedition Calusa arrows wounded him. He fled to Cuba, where he later died from those wounds. As the Spanish began to visit Florida with more frequency, the Calusa were beginning to be eased from their homeland. By the mid-1700s, they were no more. Read this fascinating book to learn where the Calusa may have gone to, and why there are no Calusa in the state today.

This is an excellent book. It's about a vanished people, the Calusa Indians of Southwest Florida. And it is written by two people who best know the Calusa story. From the Florida Natural History Museum, Darcie MacMahon (exhibits director) and William Marquardt (curator and archaeologist) have produced a book for general readership that is truly readable. Its few technical terms are well explained. Scientific names are there if you want them, but above all, THE CALUSA AND THEIR LEGACY tells, in clear language, the fascinating story of a fierce and powerful people who disappeard 200 years ago.

The book paints a broad picture. It starts with the bountiful estuary environment where these people lived, tells of the food they harvested, their religious beliefs, their weapons and their battles with the Spanish. Then, when the Calusa were no more, this remarkable book goes on to answer the question: "What happened next?"

Finally, the book gives us a look at what is happening to this land of plenty - a land that supported people for 6,000 years - today.

Excellent photos and illustrations bring the story to life. In addition to adult readers, the book is quite suitable for students grades nine and up.

What a great way to learn!

Educational,humorous,sad and thoughtful. I would like to get in touch with Ms. Geraldi for more info on how to care for my daughter

This book shows the true compassion,strength, and love of Camille and her whole family. There should be more people like her. This book gives people with or without a child with special needs ways in which they can help children with Down Syndrome or any other disability. I hope that Ms.Geraldi and Ms.Burris would write another book to let us know how her wonderful family is doing.

This book is packed with information. This is not a book to learn how to fish. It is written to tell you WHERE to fish. It also tells you what types of fish to expect at different times of the year. I noticed a few places I wasn't aware of, right in my own town. I can't wait to try them out.

Being a second generation Floridian I do know a little about fishing. This book is correct on several of the spots I know of leading me to believe that the rest of the book is accurate. Everything you need is covered here, including a monthly chart on what you are most likely to catch in different areas. If you are serious about catching fish, this is the book.

This is a great book full of beautiful photos of Celebration. Makes me want to pack up and move there!

In this book, Michael Lassell delivers a remarkably balanced and intimate portrait of this fascinating Florida town. In all ways, Mr. Lassell's book is far superior to Ross's The Celebration Chronicles and Frantz and Collins's Celebration USA. The text and the scores of beautiful photographs capture the magic of the town and enable the reader to understand why Celebration is considered by many to be the most significant new town to be developed in the second half of the twentieth century.

Calabrese writes in a witty style that informs as it delights. This is a great book for students, teachers and anyone interested in Ovid's influence on the writings of the father on English poetry. Bravo!

Insightful, witty, and exceptionally well-written commentary on the complex nature of love and desire ("ernest" or "game"?) in Chaucer's time--and our own.

"China Teacher - An Intimate Journal" took me back to an era that's both remote and real. Life in Beijing in1980 as described by J.R.LeMaster shows like yellowed pictures in an antique photo album, but the accurate account of daily routines, news, and names of people I actually have met assert that this life was once reality.

The journal urged me to re-live that life and at the same time observe it through multiple perspectives concurrently: an American educator trying to navigate a foreign land with no frame of reference, wide-eyed young men and women who had been frequently reminded growing up that an individual was only a screw on the Party machine, a graduate student in Baylor living on her $600 per month pay working as a research assistant for Dr. LeMaster in the late 80s, and a high-tech professional who left China 20 years ago and who calls US home. I remember thinking our American teachers over-reacted to "trivial" things and now I understand that what was the "norm" then in China was shocking, and rightfully so, to a westerner. I remember the thrill I felt when I read Byron and Keats the first time and now I lament that my literature books are unpacked in a cardboard box in the garage. I remember seeing Dr. LeMaster as a teacher and a "boss" and now I feel that I know him as a person.

One of the most touching details in the book for me is when the author and his fellow western teachers realized that first time in their life that they were "minority" and felt isolated and helpless. It takes the same blind faith for an American to go to China 25 years ago as for a Chinese young man or young woman to come to US. It's a point of no return whether you physically returned to your homeland or not. I can understand that the LeMasters kept going back to China after the initial visit because China is the place that they can remake themselves and reconnect to humanity. I recommend this book to everyone who has or will put his/her feet on the part of planet called China. This book will help you experience China as an intimate journey in life.

American professor and poet J. R. LeMaster has written a powerful treatise of his impressions of his year-long visit to China as a guest professor. His fortuitous visit occurred in the 1980-81 academic year just as China was beginning to open its doors to foreign visitors, allowing him first hand to witness young people just beginning to awaken to new possibilities. The easy-to-read journal format allows the author to include actual detailed descriptions of daily life in China as well as many poignant classroom vignettes. The reader feels his frustrations, his empathy with his students, his appreciation of the Asian culture even though bewildering at times, and his personal battle with cold and sparse living conditions. Through the teaching of American literature, he guides his students, not to memorize in the ancient tradition of Chinese schooling, but to think and integrate ideas of philosophy, psychology, theology, and world history, emphasizing the general inner connectedness of all people of the world. His students, unaccustomed to self expression, gradually begin to respond to his personal warmth, compassion, and gentility. His love of teaching and his students is quite evident as he attempts to break through the centuries of learned stoicism. The author, while presenting in prose, reveals his poetic gifts in the beauty and vividness of detail. Several characters, many reappearing throughout the journal, are so compellingly presented that the reader is left to wonder what may have become of them in the ensuing years. While the book will have appeal to a wide array of readers, I personally recommend this book to all teachers and future teachers who view their profession as a higher calling to reach the highest potential of each student, no matter what culture. Reviewed by Ann Williamson Karaffa, Ph.D.