Florida Books

For the most part, this book appears like all the rest on ghosts and haunted places, but once you read it, you find that there's so much more then just a few short stories on spooks. The author gets into some pretty deep detail on the locations, and otherwise points out the "psychical" parts of interest. I know he is a member of the S.P.R. which is an English group that studies such things, and backs up his research with documented interviews from each location. When I emailed the author last year to ask quesions, (through Pineapple Press) he pointed out that his books are based on folklore to that of a hard-collection of psychical accounts. He wanted to express the stories that are going around in his state. So, this book is more about what the people are saying, and not a listing of "documented facts", which some people get pissed off about. Case in point, a mean-spirited woman fron Jacksonville tore up his book, saying it was all wrong, that she knew all the stories so much better. This woman, named Lee Holloway said these things with no respect to the fact that Dr. Jenkins was relating the stories that have been told year after year by people who claim to know the legends...He's not trying to tell people that each and every story is a fact! Of course personal opinion and reasoning is always going to be different fron the next persons' idea of what is true or not. Ms. Holloway, who has herself made a few mistakes in her FATE article on water monsters of the St. Johns Rivers, but has been bombarded with insults, or did anyone point out her many mistakes. I guess being a detractor and being a nasty person are two different things.

I say this book is a fun read, and educational too. It offers a few ways in which to investigate for yourself and even what to bring on a ghost hunt. It's a fun read. By the way, he did say that he will be having a 3rd book on the West Coast and Pensacola area put out this year, so if you live in these parts, keep you eyes open. You could also call the publisher for info.

Stargazer

This is a very detailed book on the history of the 1715 fleet. The story is so well written it is hard to set this book down before the ending. In depth historical information and amazing illustration combine to make this a book of dreams, dreams that came true for a few and lost for many. It leaves many more dreams for me...."GOLD FEVER"....

Florida's Great Ocean Railway: Building The Key West Extension by former college professor, professional boat captain, environmental guide, editor and writer Dan Gallagher is a meticulous study of the construction of a railway line that required extensive logistics, meticulous planning, as well as more than a decade of labor from 1905 to 1916, before it could be put into service. Black-and-white photographs fill the pages of this fascinating historical account which presents the impressive story of shaping dream into reality over the course of years and back-breaking effort. Florida's Great Ocean Railway is very highly recommended reading -- especially for railroading buffs.

Paintings by the Florida Highwaymen are prized by collectors today, but their story is about much more than art. The name refers to African American artists, mostly from the Fort Pierce area, who painted landscapes and made a living selling them, door-to-door, to businesses and individuals throughout the state from the mid-1950s through the 1980s.

It was not a formal movement and represented no "official" group, yet the Highwaymen thrived as artists and entrepreneurs through their sheer determination to succeed as painters and not as laborers in citrus groves, their expected social role. They honed techniques to rapidly produce their paintings and developed strategies to sell and market their artwork outside of the formal world of art galleries and exhibitions. Their story is one of African Americans who carved out unique economic opportunities despite the social conditions of the Jim Crow South.

View over 65 Highwaymen paintings, many never-before-published, in this catalog written to accompany the Orange County Regional History Center's exhibit, FLORIDA'S HIGHWAYMEN: LEGENDARY LANDSCAPES. Discover this uniquely Florida story through photos of the artists then and now, images of their world, and first-person accounts and primary source research on their lives and times.

Florida's Historic Forts, Camps and Battlefields: A Pictorial Encyclopedia is an impressively presented A to Z reference of notable historic sites in Florida from Fort T. B. Adams to Zephyrhills Army Airfield. Summaries of famous Florida historical events, such as the wars with the Seminole Indians, help put various sites in full context. Black-and-white illustrations and a handful of color photographs round out this detailed and highly readable resource. Florida's Historic Forts, Camps and Battlefields is intended as a reference first and foremost; while travelers and vacationers will learn about great places to see when visiting Florida, the text's focus is on the history of the sites and not how to get there.

Florida's Incredible Wild Edibles is a wonderful little book(let) filled with informative tidbits, yummy-sounding recipes, and lists of pretty much every wild edible plant that grows in Florida. It is interesting and witty, and really makes one want to go out and harvest edible plants right now!

The book groups the wild edibles into categories such as salad greens, pot herbs (must be cooked before eating), nuts, teas/beverages, etc. All plants are listed with their common names along with their scientific names, which is extremely helpful when looking up pictures in a field guide. Another plus is that the author tells us where in Florida these plants grow (North, Central, South).

It is important to note, however, that if you are new to harvesting wild plants, you may be a little disappointed at the lack of pictures/drawings/descriptions. This book is NOT a field guide, and plainly states so. It is meant to be used along with a good field guide book (such as Peterson's), or a human field-guided tour/weed-walk.

Overall, great little book about nature's fine and free dining in Florida. Two thumbs up! :-)

This is an awesome epic of the beginning of SW Fl legacy of Collier's whom also were tied in with Marjorie S Douglas and the Flagler's (sSt Augustine) and the Ford's, Edisons's, all a clique when the Big Tycoons of Railroad and Roads were being built to help the war efforts and growth of this area. Esxcellent as reference, history, visitor reading.

I am very pleased with this book. It covers both native & introduced species. The descriptions are very detailed and the pictures are superb.

Peter Bramley left us with this inspired contribution to the preservation of vanishing Florida wildlife. I have used this book in elementary and middle school classrooms as a teaching tool. The students love it, and Pete, who was a personal friend of mine until his passing, had a body of original artwork dedicated to the beauty of Florida wildlife. In this coloring book he shares it with us and passes along his simple appreciation of a vanishing age. Pete, wherever you are, your spirit lives on. I would recommend this coloring book for children of any age.

I took this book with me on a recent photography trip to Florida and it proved very helpful. I would recomend it to nature/wildlife photographers.