Florida Books

This book is a great intro to wildlife here in the panhandle, with lots of photos by the author (although not a replacement for a good bird guide). The strength of this book is that is focuses on ecosystems, not just animal identification. You really get a better understanding of Florida's nature from a book like this than from a normal field guide, so it makes a good companion to those guides. My favorite part of the book is the last section where Stevenson (who has spent decades exploring Florida) describes potential field trips to specific places around the panhandle, places you probably wouldn't discover on your own, like where to pull off the highway to see an insectivorous bog or which bridge to look under to find fossils in the riverbank. I don't know of another book that would be so useful for planning excursions to these relatively remote places. Lots of local bird and herp info, naturalists and teachers take note.

Jim Stevenson's book was just what the Dr. ordered for northern transplants to Florida's Panhandle. The book's style is written as if you were on a field trip with J.Stevenson. His wit and field tested wisdom makes for easy reading about flora & fauna native to the region. Black and white pictures are present throughout with a mid-book color section for identification of the most common scaled, tailed, furry and feathered creatures. He discusses geologic history and ecosystems of the area. The good index and comprehensive coverage makes this book an excellent resource.

The best quality of this book is the clean language worthy of Hemingway. Samuelson had an ear for exact quoting. His manuscript lay in a trunk until after his death, when his daughter found it, and decided to publish. Lucky us.

It is astonishing that this book is so little known. Here is a memoir which records Hemingway's insights on writing as given to his only pupil, a young writer/hobo who shows up one day at Hemingway's Key West house hoping for a few words of advice. "He left me with that damned marvelous feeling you can have only once in a lifetime if you are a young man who wants to become a writer and you have just met the man you admire as the greatest writer alive and you know instinctively that he is already your friend." Impulsively Hemingway hires the twenty-two-year-old "tramp" to guard his new boat, the Pilar. Samuelson carefully records Hemingway's thoughts on writing (including a "mandatory" reading list for the young, aspiring writer). Not only does the book illuminate Hemingway, his life, his fishing, his family and his work, but it also tells the story of a fascinating individual who spent a year with him.

I've lived in Orlando for three years now and have been out to Xanadu several times. I finally picked this book up and was really pleased by the vision of Xanadu it portrays: Women in space-age skirts, Will Robinson looking men taking time out to relax in front of a psychedelic light show, in the privacy of their own homes no less. It saddens me greatly to se Xanadu rotting out there on Highway 192.

This fine book is an invitation to dream about a New World, a peace time, with concerns only to better living standards, healthy leisure, a home for a higher level of humankind.
It is now only a dream, since this amazing project was abandoned and is empty now, like all those dreams of a better, safer, nicier World. We awakened in mid of today's World nightmares, and we must exchange the electronic glass doors of Xanadu for iron-gates, and change our mood to live in fear of the future once again. Sour time ours... when I watch the "Teletubbies" I remember how nice Xanadu was, because I'm sure the Teletubbies' house was inspired by this genial ideal, the plastic-bubbles-house called XANADU!

I am a native to the Tampa area and have family members who had very strong ties to Ybor City in "the day". Ybor City enjoys an extremely diverse and interesting history. The book captures the diversity of cultures and people of Old Ybor. Ybor City is now known more for its "entertainment" but the very rich heritage of the town should be perpetuated. This book is a wonderful way of getting a glimpse of life during that time. As the author states in the front of the book, It is "his truth". Having been exposed to the culture, I know what he says is true. This book is by no means a dry documentary. It is almost a collections of vignettes. Definitely worth the read.

I know a good book when I read one. Ybor City Chronicles is a excellent one. This book delivers a fresh new look at Ybor City that no one has ever seen before! It is comical and serious, yet it still gives you an inside look to the city of Ybor. In addition, it provides wonderful profiles of Ybor's most powerful people. Once I read this novel I honestly felt like I knew so much more about the city I grew up in (Tampa/Ybor). I recommend this book to anyone who wants a new perspective of this sun-bathed city.

This is a great trivia book, and a fun family game. I keep a copy with me wherever I go-- it's great for long car trips and family outings. Mr. Lloyd's wit, wisdom and research pervades every page. And the illustrations are fantastic. He is truly a man among mice, or something like that... And I bet he makes an awesome chicken tetrazzini! We are looking forward to the next 49 states!

I was just surfing and my dad told me look up your book. You're sales rank is 680,000! Congratulations! Bye!

This is a very helpful and well written guide to introducing Florida nature to young children.

General Topics include:
-Florida's symbols
-Keeping a nature journal
-Florida's special places (everglades, salt marshes etc.)
-Flora and Fauna (plants, birds, insects, reptiles, exotics etc.)
-Florida's skies
-your part in Florida's future (careers, spaceship earth crew etc.)

Within each section you will find interesting facts and useful information (complete with clear illustrations), websites you can visit for more info, projects to do with children pertaining to that subject/section, and review of vocabulary words from that section.

Floridians will appreciate the opportunity to learn more about the nature around us that we often overlook, while Florida homeschoolers will be excited to have an extensive field trip lesson plan right at their fingertips!

This book is a find! I highly recommend it.

My family really enjoyed this book because we learned more about what we see every day here in Florida. Since I am not a Florida native, I often had a hard time helping my young naturalists identify the plants and "creatures" they saw on our outings. This book has really helped! It covers a wide spectrum of topics: from weather patterns to Florida habitats to Florida endangered species. It also covered each (Florida) geographic region separately, and provided some interesting history too. I highly recommend this book!

May 2, 2008
I'm grateful for this true story of a courageous man who shows us all how one person can make a difference, if we only will wake up to our opportunities. Initially I checked out The Zombie Curse: A Doctor's 25-year Journey into the Heart of the AIDS Epidemic in Haiti from our local library as I was preparing to go on a five-day humanitarian trip to Haiti with some students and a professor to install a water purification system at an orphanage. I liked this true story of Dr. Arthur M. Fournier's work with Haitians so much that I bought six copies, one for each of us who went to Haiti, to inspire us to perhaps one day return to our Haitian friends and do more that we have already done to help them improve their quality of life.
Yes, there is much need in places like Haiti. As we choose to start someplace as Americans who care about helping others, especially children, to get their basic life needs met, we will find that we are awakened from the Zombie Curse that has afflicted too many of us up to now. I've been asleep for the most part, too. By small things are great things brought to pass. If we can but throw back into the nourishing sea but one star fish ... it will matter to at least that one, and to those who come after that one!
Part one of the book, The Curse Descends, covers Dr. Fournier's work in Florida with Haitians back when AIDS was just being recognized. Part two, Secrets Revealed, goes into depth about the work Dr. Fournier has done in Haiti itself over the past 25¬+ years. His compassionate willingness to get involved and to open doors for hard-working Haitians who have vision for their country, and his ongoing mentoring of medical students who want to learn and help, makes this book a must-read if you, too, feel you want to understand how you can make a difference in one corner of this vineyard we call planet earth.
Jackie Ransom, Missouri

The Zombie Curse: A Doctor's Twenty-Five-Year Journey Into The Heart Of The Aids Epidemic In Haiti by Arthur M. Fournier (Physician at the Jackson Memorial Hospital and Professor of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine and Vice-Chairman of Family Medicine and Associate Dean for Community Health in Miami, Florida) is the remarkable story of Dr. Fournier's passionate struggle to understanding the terrifying truths of the AIDS virus. Having first been introduced to an AIDS patient in 1979, Fournier determined to take action in helping to discover the cure for this lethal epidemic as it swiftly unfolded throughout the United States and the world. The Zombie Curse reveals the devastation experienced by the Haitian people as the prescriptions offered had little or no effect on the patients, and the broadening tragedy became increasingly pervasive through Haitian society. Very strongly recommended for all non-specialist general readers seeking a greater understanding of the early years of the AIDS outbreak, The Zombie Curse is an outstanding account of the terrible first years of AIDS epidemic and a first-hand account of the often empty pursuit of helping the Haitian victims AIDS.

The book may be small in size, but it is filled with a lot of information. Easy reading, lovely photos. Gave one to another new orchid enthusiast friend. Great reference book. I highly recommend it to all orchid lovers.

This book has very useful information and is well researched. It is divided into chapters such as Beaches, Museums, Scenic Drives, etc. Southwest Florida is a huge area and a location index or a better map should have been included, but the information alone is worth 5 stars.

The book covers the public life of Jeb Bush in a great way. But Bush's efforts to help inmates is not very well known. I am not a Florida resident, which makes this extraordinary. I learned of a serious problem at a Florida prison from a inmate. The prison guards ignored the problem as did the warden, even after being told about it. So in desperation I emailed Bush's office and asked if the governor would help motivate the warden to fix the problem. To my absolute amazement the problem was solved within 24 hours. The warden even apologized to the inmates involved. Jeb Bush could have ignored the problem, but he took the time to fix it, without publicity. I wish the book would have included his personal acts of kindness.