When Florida Breezes, or Florida New and Old was first published in 1882, residents of the state, and Tallahassee in particular, were not happy. Many of them bought the book by Ellen Call Long, just so they could burn it, reducing the number of copies in existence.

Stetson Kennedy (1916-2011) was a life-long activist for social justice, environmental stewardship, and the preservation of traditional cultures. He wrote six published books, contributed to dozens of other volumes, and composed thousands of articles as a journalist and freelance essayist. Stetson used acerbic prose, down-home Southern humor, double entendre, and colorful idioms to engage his readers and to skewer those who would malign or exploit others.

Box Broken Open is the story of Jacksonville architect Ted Pappas who was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as Mid-Century Modern architects and proponents of Brutalism. Pappas often unites ancient tradition with contemporary vision.  

2022 Samuel Proctor Award Winner

John Wayne Mixson served as a Florida state representative, Florida lieutenant governor, and briefly as the 39th governor of Florida. The results of his work while filling these roles continue to positively impact the state of Florida and its citizens.

Author Sid Riley was a political columnist, managing editor, and part owner of The Jackson County Times newspaper. For this book, Riley conducted extensive oral history interviews with John Wayne Mixson, and his wife Margie Mixson.

This fascinating “sketchbook” of Florida history and culture focuses on the rural Red Hills of north Florida. Comprised of what is now Madison, Jefferson, and Leon counties, this region is home to a rich heritage that includes prehistoric people and megafauna, Native Americans, Spanish settlers, British soldiers, and Southern Plantations dependent upon the work of enslaved people. Celt and African traditions became incorporated into the Southern folklore of the area, including colorful traditions and ghost stories.

William Potter served as an International election supervisor in Bosnia-Herzegovina and as the Air Force legal advisor to the Office of the High Representative and government of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In addition, he served as the Head of the Rule of Law Department in the administration of the High Representative Paddy Ashdown.

This book is easy and interesting reading. It presents the life and legacy of the late Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune holistically and concludes with testimonies from living witnesses. The author narrates Dr. Bethune's early years and documents how developments in those years influenced her later accomplishments. Permeating Dr. Bethune's spectacular career is a philosophy based on deep religious convictions and held that work was honorable, no matter how menial the task. - Dr. Oswald P. Bronson President of Bethune-Cookman College, July 19, 2004

2011 Patrick D. Smith Award

“The trouble with panthers is they can’t change. With the whole world changin round it, old panther got no choice but to go on bein a panther. It can’t reason like you and me -- can’t decide to earn its livin a little differently.”

Central Florida, November 2004. Upon hearing this admonition from his dying grandfather, young cowman, Bodie Rawlerson, doesn’t hesitate to promise the old man that he won’t be like the panther. Though he hates change, fears it more than anything else, he vows to do whatever necessary to carry on the family legacy of raising cattle on the land he so dearly loves. But unbeknownst to Bodie, forces are already in motion to render his promise impossible to keep. Within days of his grandfather’s passing, these forces of human (and inhuman) nature will convince him that nothing lasts forever, that change is life’s only certainty -- that time and chance do indeed rule us all.

The authors are not historians or experts of any kind but they have traversed the waters of the river by air boat from the flood-plain and marshes southwest of Fellsmere which mark its beginning, and later by larger vessel to the point where its waters join one of the great oceans of the world. We have endeaved to show the river as we saw it and to provide accurate descriptions and information.

Saving Home is an historical novel set during the English siege of St. Augustine in 1702. The story is told through the eyes of nine-year-old Luissa de Cueva and her friends, ten-year-old Diego de las Alas, and a Timucuan Indian girl named Junco. Based on meticulous research, Saving Home engages readers of all ages with descriptions of Spanish and Native American families seeking refuge for more than six weeks within the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos as St. Augustine goes up in flames and a battle rages around them. This exciting historical novel has messages about life, family, and what is important that will resonate with both the young and the young at heart.

Stetson Kennedy collected folklore and oral histories throughout Florida for the WPA between 1937 and 1942. The result was this classic Florida book, back in print for the first time in more than twenty years with an Afterword update and dozens of historic photographs never before published with this work. Alan Lomax said, "I doubt very much that a better book about Florida folklife will ever be written."

“I don't know of any book on my whole shelf that hits me any harder than Palmetto Country. It gives me a better trip and taste and look and feel for Florida than I got in the forty-seven states I've actually been in body and tramped in boot. If only, and if only, all our library books could say what [Kennedy does]—the jokes and songs and old ballads about voodoo and the hoodoo and the bigly winds down in your neck of the woodvine.”  --Woody Guthrie Folk Musician and singer-songwriter, This Land is Your Land

In 1982, a backhoe operator working at what would become the new Windover Farms housing development in Titusville, Florida, uncovered a human skull. The bones of several other individuals soon emerged from the peat bog. It would be determined that the human remains uncovered at Windover were between 7,000 and 8,000 years old, making them 3,200 years older than King Tutankhamen and 2,000 years older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt. This was just the beginning of an archaeological adventure that continues today.

2017 Samuel Proctor Award Winner 

The historic photographs published in this book are part of the permanent collection and display at the Hannibal Square Heritage Center, located in Winter Park, Florida, USA. The center is a program of Crealdé School of Art and is operated in partnership with the City of Winter Park. The Heritage Center was established in 2007 as a tribute to the past, present and future of Winter Park's African American community. It is a unique cultural facility that celebrates community heritage through documentary photography and public art. Crealde School of Art is a forty year old, widely recognized visual arts school, offering an educational curriculum of over 100 courses for students of all ages and backgrounds, three galleries, and an award winning outreach program that brings arts and humanities to many underserved communities throughout Central Florida. Its mission is based on the belief that the arts are for everyone; every individual has a story worth telling and something creative to contribute, making a positive impact on family and community life.

This is intended to be a faithful reproduction of the original, with background information added as a Introduction and to accompany some of the sketches. Sawyer's expectation was that his drawings should eventually illustrate a manuscript which would describe the maritime history of Florida. In a small way it is hoped this book, in his memory and seventy-five years later, may that purpose.

"The Way Hit Wuz" is a novel about Florida's history similiar to Patrick Smith's book "A Land Remembered". Recently reprinted 2010 with new cover. 

As a Mizell family descendant who married and had children with a Barber, author Mary Ida Bass Barber Shearhart has a personal interest in the infamous Barber-Mizell Family Feud. Florida’s Frontier: The Way Hit Wuz is written as a compelling, action-filled novel set between 1841 and 1870, but is firmly based in historical fact. In addition to offering descriptions of pioneer life in Florida from running cattle, to making soap, to cane grinding, the author provides insight about the Spanish colonization of Florida, the Seminole Indian Wars, the Civil War, and other topics