Attended the 8th Annual John Young History Maker Celebration put on by the Orange County Regional History Center. Grace Chewning, Peggy Jo van den Berg, Charlie Gray, Shirley Cannon, Bob & Texann Ivy Buck were there from our Orlando Remembered group.

Curtis Stanton was honored as a past History Maker for his extensive work as leading the Orlando Utilities Commission to what it is today. As Present History Maker, Rita Bornstein was recognized for her being president of Rollins College from 1990 until 2004 and her philanthropy.

As usual, I took no photos of myself but of Swampy. Above is a photo of Swampy with History Center volunteers with stacks of mini cupcakes handed out to attendees as they left.

Trail from St. Augustine by Lee Gramling

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Folks have been telling me for years to read Lee Gramling and, over the years, I picked up the Pineapple Press series. I just read my first one after starting to collect them in the 1990s. I almost wish I had not cracked open the book and just ride the praise I’ve heard of them.

The story starts in 1700s British St. Augustine and continues in the northern part of the state. That is, if you want to call it a story. It’s a very flimsy premise that is cloaked in a novel length chase toward a common goal. The writing is almost Ok and the narrative about the outdoors is less than that. His best writing is during the many scenes of action.

What might have my opinion extra low is reading prior to this Frank Slaughter’s ‘Storm Haven’ that is so beautifully written and well researched. This book pales in comparison. Gramling, being a fifth generation Floridian, I am sure did his best to construct the best novel he could about early Florida. He just needed direction in plotting, narrative and story telling.

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Here’s a cartoon illustration for an upcoming Swampy’s Florida book for Marion County, Florida. The ‘Swampy’s Florida: Marion County Museum of History’ coloring book is an A to Z count of items in the museum in coloring book form to help educate young people about the history of Marion County. I’ll post more images as they I get them drawn.

Storm Haven by Frank G. Slaughter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The research author Frank Slaughter did to accomplish the ability to put the reader in the very throes of each scene must have been exhausting. This book is amazing in its narrative. Knowing quite a bit about Florida history, Slaughter went beyond even extensive knowledge of Florida in the 1860s. Today writers would be pulling internet sites to get the details he does. I’m guessing Slaughter got as close to the source of the time period. Writing this in the early 1950s, he likely went beyond books to people, grandchildren and the like, to get as close as he could to accuracy. It’s a truly amazing accomplishment.
One scene well describes the Devils Millhopper near Gainesville. The name is never mentioned, but if you know the area, you know the spot by his writing. You also know the crossing of South Florida to the Withlacoochee, the setting around the living areas in the Panhandle (Being cagey here so I don’t spoil the story) and the scenes along the Ocklawaha. His descriptions of the peripheral events around the battle at Olustee are enlightening for those of us who have read of the battle. This book puts you there in the surgery area and the effects of the battle on both sides. I could go on.
Now, I must write this is my first Slaughter book. I’m guessing he does this in all his books. I look forward to wading into more.

I also need to add that the actual story was a bit predictable by today’s standards .
I highly recommend this book

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Pirates of the Spanish Main by Hamilton Cochran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this book that covers many aspects of the industry known as piracy. It views them from both the good and bad and does a great job mapping out motivation, action and results. I also like the follow through as to the closing of the careers of these mostly bad guys. The interesting focus near the end of two of the best known of pirates and another about a few female peers were excellent in closing out the volume. The illustrations are outstanding and further underline the world in which the pirate world lived. In that it is an overview, it does what it should in enticing a reader to want to learn much more. So I shall.

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Re-Discover Florida by Hampton Dunn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Florida historian, Hampton Dunn, tags a series of Florida historic locations with one page reviews and history. The state is well covered by being broken up in three parts, Central, East and West Coasts. The volume is dated and a number of the locations are either gone in inaccessible at this time. Still, all are well written and worth the view of Florida history in 1969.

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Guide for Hire by Gladys and Ed Fortner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For a book from 50 odd years ago, this one sure does cover it’s intended territory as a guidebook of a portion of interior Florida in a rather complete and creative way. Graphically it reflects it’s time period, but in ways that would be over done in today’s digital onslaught. A ton of information is scattered in nooks and crannys of the graphics, thus providing more than the narrative provides. It’s a terrific piece for it’s time, but also an example to take note of in today’s guidebook design.

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‘Funny Folks Behind the Serious Business of Cartoons’ is the name of a fun panel of Florida cartoonists and author Tim Hollis this Saturday at the Orange County Regional History Center.

Tim Hollis starts off the event at 12:30 with a talk about the history of cartooning and tourism. He will also be introducing his new book, ‘Part of a Good Breakfast’ about cereal premiums for the Baby Boomer set. Tim will be available to sign books after his talk.

The cartoonist panel starts at 1pm with cartoonists Bruce Beattie, Allen Bellman, Mike Osbun, Jeff Parker, Mark Simon, and me. Each will talk about the cartoon work they do.  Then the floor will open to questions from the audience.

Afterward be sure to take a stroll trough the Peanuts exhibit of comic strips reflecting outdoor issues.

I organized the cartoonist panel and dove tailed it with our annual Florida Chapter meeting of the National Cartoonists Society, which I am also Florida Chapter Chairman of. I’m also involved with the History Center.

On July 28th I introduced the new Florida History text book at The Knowledge Exchange. I conducted to talks. One about cartooning and the other about Florida history. Above are some from the Florida history class.

During the cartooning class I got the attendees to contribute various ideas and we all came up with this scene.

Here’s a close up of the artwork.

Been going for a few days without much rest to get a project done. Here’s a few illustrations I drew for it.

History of Brevard County Vol. 2 by Jerrell H. Schoffner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This volume of Brevard history is in sharp contrast to the first volume by Jerrell Schoffner. The first book was very thorough and related the ups and downs of the community. The second volume drowns in numbers of all shapes and sizes. Numbers of people moving in, numbers of costs to various construction projects, too many results of elections and way more information than needed about the space program. There is very, very little about the community so well covered in the first volume. There are glances at Erna Nixon and various politicians and too many involved with the space program. It was as if all that happened in Brevard County from 1950 to the printing of the volume in 1992 was space and political elections. I can think of any number of various milestones that occurred in Brevard County in that time. Some focus on other businesses might’ve been fun. Just a few paragraphs about the Thompson family and Dixie Crossroads restaurant would’ve been interesting and much needed in this very dry effort that falls short of what Schoffner is known for in covering history.

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