Florida Books

THE EVERGLADES......SAVE WHAT IS LEFT......GET INVOLVED!

EARLY EVERGLADES
Canoeing the Miami River on a Sunday morning, 1896: "The Sun was just rising, and a pleasant, cool breeze ruffled the surface of the river. Brewer with his pole in the stern, and myself with the Canadian paddle in the bow, made rapid headway against the current, which was getting stronger and stronger. The river winds in beautiful curves, the trees growing to the water's edge, and were it not for the occasional cocoanut-tree or cabbage-palm, you would almost believe you were in the wild streams of the Maine woods. Very soon we saw large white objects ahead, which proved to be balls of foam hurrying down with the current. With a quick turn to the left, after about three miles of paddling, we struck the South Fork, the water becoming swifter and swifter, and the cotton-like balls larger and more numerous. We were on the falls, and how the water did run! I could hear Brewer panting behind me, but I never turned my head or gave any signal that we were conquered, but started in on my old-time stroke, inch by inch crawling up that water, digging the rocks. After about three-quarters of an hour of the hardest paddling I think I have ever done, the water slowed up a little, and we could get some speed on the canoe. The trees opened up more, the stream becoming narrower and narrower, until we came to an opening where everything was clear ahead.

This was the edge of the Everglades, and the place for which the Indians make when bound to the coast by way of the Miami River. The stream here loses itself among the lily pads and before you lies a sea of apparently pathless grass. On closer observation shallow watercourses are seen running through the grass, cutting in all directions, spreading out like the lines on the human hands, and whichever one you take you regret that you did not choose the other."

The previous passage is Hugh Willoughby's account of his outing, one hundred years ago, on the Miami River, accompanied by his wife, son and wilderness-man and friend Ed Brewer. One year later he and Brewer would embark on their major Everglades excursion. In his book Across the Everglades, A Canoe Journey of Exploration, Hugh Willoughby has left us a fascinating and informative account of the early, undeveloped Everglades.

In this book you will find out how clean Everglades waters were. He and Brewer drank profusely of the waters. They just dipped a glass into it and guzzled the water. You can't do that today.

Get involved to save what is left of the Everglades now!

Reading this book will give you an idea of what the glades were like back when Miami was a village of 2000 people!

If you write alot of ADA reports and tire of re-typing the same old things repeatedly: this CD is especially useful! Just copy and paste! Strongly recommended. Thomas Schmokel - ADA Consultant

ADA Compliance info for Florida in a single book! I bought it and I recommend that you buy it also! Thomas Schmokel - ADA Consultant

Jack Hunter is known for his adventure fiction, but this novel shows a true literary genius that goes beyond the genre.

This book is a valuable reference for researchers and Ph.D. students who want to stay on top of today's cutting edge frontiers in applied bioinformatics.

The print edition of this book runs to 300 pages. It's a guide to the 18 counties that make up Central Florida, including the frenetic parts overrun with concrete and kids paid minimum wage to swelter inside animal costumes. But vast tracts of Central Florida have been set aside for adventurers and for the flora and fauna that have been here for eons. The book shows you where to explore wildlife refuges and forests, pristine canoe trails and some of the Southeast's best dive sites. Paddle a river, spank a golf ball, pedal a path or hike a historic trail - it's all here. Includes The Magic Kingdom and Orlando; Daytona Beach and the Kennedy Space Center; Vero Beach, Ft. Pierce and Lake Okeechobee; Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Lakeland; Ocala, Silver Springs; Crystal River, Homosassa Springs; Cedar Key; Tampa, St. Petersburg and the Gulf Beaches.

Bruce Hunt has done a very thorough job of researching and compiling some very interesting high adventure activities. Chapters include: Drag Racing, Ultra-Lights, Aerial Fighter Combat (my favorite), Hang Gliding, Sports Car Racing, Stock Car Racing, Kart Racing, Skydiving, Hot Air Ballooning, Soaring, Sea Kayaking, Bungee Jumping, Sky Coastering, Cave Diving, and more. Bruce has done them all and furnishes complete names and addresses of expert teachers in each field. I am somewhat of an adrenaline junkie myself, having amassed over 7000 skydives, but I am afraid my endeavors pale by comparison to Bruce. I have met Bruce while skydiving and can attest to his great skill, intelligence, and insatiable quest for adventure. I especially like the first-person tone of Bruce's writing. He lives a very exciting life and shares his experiences with great skill. The book reads like a conversation with an old friend. If you are looking for some great ideas for experiencing the more thrilling endeavors in life, this is the book for you. -Bill Hazlet

Michael Lackeys little book (150 pages) is one of the most fascinating and wonderful books I have read on atheism and the God concept, with the special feature that it is written from the viewpoint and minds of African Americans. I learned more and was moved by this little known (and still expensive) book than by any of the recent popular atheist tracts written by Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, et al. I also found the book impacted me profoundly and has inspired me to read further into literature I had barely been aware of before.

Mr. Lackey's book is an astute and scholarly rigorous analysis of black atheist writers and their works, including; Frantz Fanon, J. Saunders Redding, Richard Wright, Nella Larsen, and Langston Hughes. By page 30, I began to feel that this book has a far broader scope and audience than the title implies. This is a book for everyone, written by and about people who had every reason and motivation to consider deeply and honestly the true effects of religion on black Americans and ultimately all of us.

I confess to having been one of the multitudes of secular people who have wondered how African Americans could so enthusiastically embrace their oppressors myth-based and irrational religions. I have suspected for many decades that African Americans continuing disenfranchisement is directly related to their addiction to the "white mans" religions. This book uses the brilliant and insightful works of numerous black authors who loved life enough to REALLY think about it and write it down. Each has a fascinating story. Most came to the same conclusion. What Mr. Lackey and his subjects did for me was prove what I (and others) have suspected is true. The African American is not free because they are still slaves to Christianity and the God Concept.

The timing of my reading of this book has become sad for me when I consider the current presidential campaign and the strong candidacy of the first partially African American in history. I have followed the controversies surrounding Barack Obama's religious affiliations and convictions with interest. I was, at first, delighted at his candidacy and his success. For me it meant that we, as a nation and a culture, had finally made the quantum shift where such a thing was even possible. (Let alone a female candidate as well.) After reading Michael Lackeys brilliant little book, I now find myself following the campaign with certain trepidation and concern.

I don't know if Michael Lackey set out to accomplish what he did with me. I don't imagine Barack Obama was even a thought in his head while Mr. Lackey researched, wrote, and published his book. But as for me, Michael Lackey and his subjects convinced me beyond doubt that any candidate and I truly mean ANY candidate, who has been and remains inculcated and subservient to religion, can not, and will not bring true freedom and equality to anyone, and I mean ANYONE... Black, Brown, Beige or Pink! I fear the last thing any of us, (particularly African Americans) will get from Barack Obama is "real change". It saddens me because I think we are all running out of time.

The best thing that could happen for America and the World is for famous and influential black Americans to read this book, and to think about this book, and to ACT on this book, and to do it NOW. They could start the New American Renaissance for all of us.

I am neither famous nor black. I am not influential. But I have no doubt this review will be seen by very few people in the grand scheme of things. I have no doubt that Jessie, Al, and Louis will be upset if they ever get wind of Michael Lackeys little book. I have no doubt that if this little book and its author were to become widely known, Mr. Lackey would be attacked by many powerful people and organizations. I have no doubt that the vast majority of you reading this won't agree with me or ultimately with Michael Lackey. And it is because of those lost doubts that I believe Michael Lackey is really talking about "real change". Really real change. Not the same old religion. Not the same old identification of the inferior. Definitely NOT what I will hear on TV tonight.

Near the end of the book, (page 145), Mr. Lackey quotes J. Saunders Redding; "Race is a myth: it is artificial" He then quotes James Baldwin; "Color is not a human or personal reality; it is a political reality". By the time I read those words I had been so deeply moved by this work, that I am convinced this book and its author are something very, very special. I ordered one each for Grandpa and my daughter to keep and another new first edition for my "special" library. If it ever comes out in paperback I will order dozens and give them to my friends and family on holidays and birthdays.

I hope Michael Lackey publishes another book soon. It think it could do us all good.

I found this book to be a very comprehensive presentation of the various types of entrepreneurship in Africa. It was written by seventeen very qualified writers and should be read by all those who wish to better understand the importance of African entrepreneurship for the future of Africa.

Originally published in 1959, Alligator Crossing by Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998) is an engaging novel about Henry Bunks, a thirteen-year-old boy who stows away in the boat of an outlaw alligator hunter in Florida. Henry's journey through the Everglades will take him into a world of beauty and danger, where he must rely on his own courage and resourcefulness to protect himself and the land alike. Also available in a paperback edition ... is highly recommended reading and a welcome addition to school and community library collections.