December 3rd, 2007 – Book: Floridian of His Century!
by Rob Smith, Jr. on Dec.03, 2007, under Books, Florida History!, What\'s New?
Just finished ‘Floridian of the Century: The Courage of Governor LeRoy Collins’. I really looked forward to this book that came out earlier this year. This is the first real book about who is considered our best Governor. I especially liked that Martin Dyckman is the author. He was a cracker jack columnist for the St. Petersburg Times for decades. I was certain this book would be excellent. I was wrong.
I’d love to write this was just a project lacking a good editor. The book is just poorly written. Everything from run-on sentences to a last name with no reference as to what the first name is or who the person is. Making it all worse is Dyckman writing of the complex segregation issue. With the style in which this book was written it’s pretty tough to follow the history.
There are parts that are coherent. Those are great to read. Especially when Dyckman quotes others.
Helping me get through the book is my knowledge of Florida history. Often when things didn’t make sense, I could rely on my memory. Others not knowing our state’s history will probably find it extremely difficult to finish the book.
Dyckman has proven himself a great writer with his columns. I sure hope someday he’ll write a book that reflects those.
Leave a Reply
Linked In
Networked Blogs
Web Stat
