Randy Wayne White
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Randy Wayne White was born in 1950 and is alive and well and living in Pine Island, Florida near Cape Coral.
Pine Island is east of Captiva Island Florida, setting of many of his novels.
He has become one of the best known Florida authors, is well known by many of his Southwest Florida neighbors, and is involved in many community organizations.
He is also active with Doc Ford's Sanibel Rum Bar & Grill on nearby Sanibel Island, and another in Fort Myers Beach.
Sanibel is immediately south of Captiva Island Florida.
Mr. White was a fishing guide for 13 years, operating out of the Tarpon Bay Marina on Sanibel Island.
I have always assumed that Randy Wayne White was a fan of the late John D. MacDonald and his fictional hero, Travis McGee.
When MacDonald died in 1986, maybe Mr. White mourned the loss like many other fans. Unlike the other fans, however, he did something about it.
He "discovered" Doc Ford and began to write about him and his adventures. Randy's first Doc Ford novel was published in 1990.
Doc is a marine biologist with a murky background. He used to be a CIA special operative or a Navy Seal or both. He tries to live a quiet life at Dinkins Pass Marina in his combination stilt house and marine laboratory.
His aging hippie friend Tomlinson lives in an anchored sailboat not far from Doc's place.
Circumstances always intervene and lead Doc into harrowing adventures. His former government spook activities always serve him well.
Although Tomlinson is stoned most of the time, in his more lucid moments he assists Doc on these adventures.
It might have appeared to the reading world that White just showed up out of nowhere with his Doc Ford series. Actually, he made his bones the hard way, writing many novels under assumed names (Randy Striker, Carl Ramm), while working full time as a fishing guide.
He also wrote a lot of non-fiction travel and fishing guides.
White is a true adventurer in the mold of Ernest Hemingway and Jack London. He is a world traveler and has done a lot of exciting things.
He has dog sledded in Alaska, helped re-introduce little league baseball in Castro's Cuba, and used his boat to carry Cuban refugees to safety during the Mariel boatlift.
ABOUT RANDY WAYNE WHITE FLORIDA BOOKS
Randy Wayne White is a prolific writer. He wrote 18 fiction novels under pen names before finding Doc Ford.
Many of these have Florida settings.
In 1990 he began writing the Doc Ford series, all set in Florida.
Among the many awards he has won for his fiction is the "John D. MacDonald Award for Literary Excellence".
He has also written dozens of non-fiction books.
Here is a listing of some of Randy Wayne White's works:
Fiction by "Randy Striker"
- (1981) Key West Connection..... (1981) The Deep Six..... (1981) Cuban Death-lift..... (1981) The Deadlier Sex..... (1981) Assassin's Shadow..... (1982) Everglades Assault..... (1982)Grand Cayman Slam
Fiction by "Carl Ramm"
- (1984) Florida Firefight..... (1984)L.A. Wars..... (1984)Chicago Assault..... (1984)Deadly in New York..... (1985)Houston Attack..... (1985)Vegas Vengeance..... (1985) Detroit Combat..... (1986) Terror in D.C...... (1986)Atlanta Extreme..... (1986) Denver Strike..... (1986) Operation Norfolk
Doc Ford Novels
- (1990) Sanibel Flats
- (1992) The Heat Islands
- (1993) The Man Who Invented Florida
- (1996) Captiva
- (1997) North of Havana
- (1998) The Mangrove Coast
- (2000) Ten Thousand Islands
- (2001) Shark River
- (2002) Twelve Mile Limit
- (2003) Everglades
- (2004) Tampa Burn
- (2005) Dead of Night
- (2006) Dark Light
- (2007) Hunter's Moon
- (2008) Black Widow
- (2009) Dead Silence
- (2010) Deep Shadow
- (2011) Night Vision
Randy Wayne White has also written dozens of non-fiction books, including "Batfishing In The Rainforest", "The Sharks Of Lake Nicaragua", and many others. Of all Florida authors, he is certainly one of the most versatile.
Here is a recent article about Randy along with an interesting interview recently published in a local paper.
You can link to the article and interview here.
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Other Great
Florida Fiction Authors
Tim Dorsey
James W Hall
Carl Hiaasen
John D MacDonald