FLORIDA AUTHORS AND THEIR BOOKS

I have a pretty fair collection of Florida novels, Florida history books, and a lot of interesting trivia and history that I kind of lump into the category "Floridiana".

Every time I walk on the beach I notice that most folks sitting in their beach chairs are reading a book.

I don't get close enough to examine titles, but I would bet that quite a few are Florida titles by famous Florida authors.

There is a special thrill in reading a book that is set in the same place where you are reading it. Writers have always been attracted to Florida, especially in the winter.

Many of them take up permanent residency, like Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. They become known as Florida authors.

Marjorie moved to Cross Creek and wrote some of her finest stuff there, including "Cross Creek" and "The Yearling".

These were Florida books, and The Yearling won the Pulitzer Prize. She is maybe the most famous Florida author.

Some authors who lived in Florida are not included in my list because their work was not about Florida.

Jack Kerouac, who lived in Orlando and St. Pete, and Tennessee Williams who lived in Key West are examples that come to mind.

As far as I know, they didn't write any Florida books, so I don't include them in my list of Florida writers.

"To Have And Have Not" is set in Key West, but rumors are that Papa wrote it in Bimini. I still include him among Florida authors.

That's Hemingway to the right wearing a very un-Florida like sweater.

Robert Frost spent many winters in Coconut Grove, but I don't think "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening" is about Florida.

No list compiled by me or anybody else could possibly be complete.

So I will start with just a few Florida authors that I am familiar with.

Among the most gifted of Florida authors was John D. MacDonald, shown at right working at his trusty old typewriter.

An amazing thing can happen when several good authors collaborate on a book. This is what happened in 1996 with "Naked Came The Manatee".

This satirical Florida novel had 13 chapters and 13 authors.

Each author had a South Florida connection.

The authors, in order of the chapters, are:

Dave Barry, Les Standiford, Paul Levine, Edna Buchanan, James W. Hall, Carolina Hospital, Evelyn Mayerson, Tananarive Due, Brian Antoni, Vicki Hendricks, John Dufresne, Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen.

Dave Barry wrote the first chapter, Les Standiford wrote the the next. You get the idea.

The creation of the book was like improv theater: nobody knew what they were going to write until they saw the preceding chapter.

Then their writer imaginations took wing.

This is one of the funniest Florida books ever written. It is a book that captures the essence of South Florida culture and all its eccentricities.

I have tried to limit my list to authors who have written books set partly or entirely in Florida.

Each of the following authors has created clear story portraits that capture a bit of Florida in their life and times.

Fiction

1. Edna Buchanan
2. Jimmy Buffett
3. Harry Crews
4. Tim Dorsey
5. James W. Hall
6. Ernest Hemingway
7. Carl Hiaasen
8. Zora Neale Hurston
9. Elmore Leonard
10. John D. MacDonald
11. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
12. Patrick Smith
13. J. P. White
14. Randy Wayne White

Non-Fiction

1. Dave Barry
2. Loren G. "Totch" Brown
3. Al Burt
4. Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
5. Dr. Gerald Grow
6. Stetson Kennedy
7. Jeff Klinkenberg
8. Vernon Lamme
9. Sidney Lanier
10. D. M. Miller
11. Gary R. Mormino
12. Bill Murphy
13. Harriet Beecher Stowe
14. David T. Warner

History

1. Raymond Arsenault
   
2. Michael Gannon
   
3. Kevin M. McCarthy
   
4. Arva Moore Parks
   
5. Charlton W. Tebeau
   

Follow the links to the pages on each author and his or her works along with a brief biography.

This page will be a work in progress, and I invite your suggestions for consideration.

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