J. T. Glisson was a gifted artist and writer who lives in Evingston, a small town near Cross Creek. As a young man, J. T. was a confidante and prot g of his neighbor, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who encouraged him to write and draw.

• Occupations include artist, author and playwright

• He was born 1927 in Cross Creek Florida and lived in Evingston and Cross Creek, Florida, USA

• Further education was at Sarasota School, Art.

• Mentor: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

• Supposedly the model for 'Jody" in The Yearling.
• Collaborated with Actor Rip Torn

At The Dawn of Tourism in Florida: Abolitionists, Print Media, and Images from early Vacationers

John T. Foster Jr. makes a compelling argument that the birth of tourism in Florida did not begin with the railroad barons of the 1880s as is popularly believed, but with abolitionist writers of the Reconstruction era, following the Civil War. Progressive Northerners were lured to the state with colorful descriptions of desirable weather and abundant natural beauty. It was with these forward-thinking writers that Modern Florida was born. The extraordinary rush of visitors continues [in Florida.] There has never such a crowd as there has been this season, and still they come. The hotels are full and would be were there twice as many of them. It is plain that Florida is to be a greater place for winter tourists than Saratoga is in summer. Already the number in ... Florida exceeds the aggregate of the summer crowd at Newport, Saratoga and Long Branch. Every winter brings more, and new hotels keep going up. The St. James in Jacksonville has just made a cash dividend of 88.1 per cent, for its year in business.The crowd of northerners in Florida are a lot like boys just let out of school, it is one continuous frolic and holiday. Finding themselves really safe, out of the rigors of northern winter, and in a climate of flowers and fruit and sunshine, they give themselves up to enjoyment. Excursions on the river every day; rambles after fruit and flowers; drives, card parties, sailing parties it is one round pleasure. Even Canada is beginning to learn that there is such a place as Florida and the frozen western states are pouring in. Two or three winters hence Florida will be full of them. -- Oswego Daily Palladium, March 18, 1875

Distinguished historian Eric Foner "enjoyed reading" At the Dawn, and said he "learned a great deal" about "a little known aspect of Reconstruction."

John's other book - Calling Yankees to Florida

With the publication of her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe became the most famous writer in America. That book helped to fuel the raging debate over slavery in the United States. When Stowe met President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, he reportedly said, So you are the little woman who started this great war. Often overlooked is the fact that Harriet Beecher Stowe was also one of the first and greatest proponents of Florida as a popular tourist destination. In 1873, some of Stowe's descriptive and colorful tourist articles were published in the book Palmetto-Leaves. Calling Yankees to Florida: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Forgotten Tourist Articles, contains fascinating vignettes of Florida life not included in Palmetto-Leaves, with insightful commentary by John Foster Jr. and Sarah Whitmer Foster. This new edition features Stowe's meeting with Mary Richards, a famous African American spy, and an introduction by the nationally known novelist Lois Leveen.

Rose Knox has a Master of Arts in English Studies and teaches college level writing and literature. A native Floridian, she calls the Suwannee River her "sacred place."

Rose Knox began her secondary education at North Florida Junior College in Madison, Florida, and received her Associate of Arts degree in 1981. She finished her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Montevallo in Alabama in 1983. She concluded her formal studies in 2000 at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, with a Master of Arts in English Studies. She is currently teaching writing and literature at a rural college in North Florida. As an avid reader, she gravitates to subjects concerning pioneer Florida. She also is immensely intrigued in parallel symbols and stories found within spiritual rituals and myths of the world. Southeastern authors that have influenced her writing include Patrick D. Smith in A Land Remembered; Joe and Mark Akerman in Jacob Summerlin: King of the Crackers; Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in The Yearling; and Janisse Ray in Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. Eckhart Tolle and Joseph Campbell have widened her world view on spiritual and cultural belief systems found within their works The Power of Now and The Power of Myth. 

The Suwannee River is her sacred place. As a native Floridian, Rose appreciates and reveres what remains of wild North Florida. She encourages those around her to paddle these currents. When she is not teaching, she is practicing yoga, kayaking, or hiking. She also has a new work about the Okefenokee Swamp.

Kristina Tollefson, a member of United Scenic Artists (the professional designer's union), is an Associate Professor and Resident Costume and Makeup Designer at the University of Central Florida in Orlando where she also serves as Undergraduate Coordinator for her department. She holds an MFA from Purdue University in Costume Design and Technology and a BA Degree from South Dakota State University in Theatre and English.

In addition to her work at UCF Kristina's costume designs have appeared in places such as The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (Washington DC), Prague Shakespeare (Czech Republic), Shakespeare and Company (MA), St. Lawrence University (NY), DeSales University (PA), Maples Repertory Theatre (MO), Orlando Shakes (FL), Orlando Rep (FL), Purdue University (IN), Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis (IN), as well as at theatres in Texas, Florida, South Dakota, and Kansas. 

Kristina is the recipient of three Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Design awards and numerous teaching awards. Her book, Too Much Is Not Enough:  The History in Harriett's Closet, with co-author Jodi Ozimek, documents the expansive clothing collection of Harriett Lake.

EDUCATION

• M.F.A. in Costume Design & Technology from Purdue University (2000)
• B.A. in Theatre and English with minors in Art and Textiles & Clothing from South Dakota State