As longtime residents and newcomers alike can agree, Jacksonville holds within its city limits wonderful places to grow, play and contemplate the beauty of north Florida. This entertaining collection of Dorothy Fletcher's "By the Wayside" columns will help you remember what it was like to see the world and Jacksonville with a sense of wonder and enthusiasm. From Marineland to the Soul Searchers to Peterson's 5 & 10, Remembering Jacksonville captures this coastal community's glory days, including fond recollections from local citizens who responded to the original columns.

Selected from the author's book "Historic Photos of Jacksonville," these black-and-white photographs portray a century of events in the city's history, and the everyday life of the people of Jacksonville, Florida.

A Land Remembered has become Florida's favorite novel. Now this Student Edition in two volumes makes this rich, rugged story of the American pioneer spirit more accessible to young readers. Patrick Smith tells of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family battling the hardships of the frontier. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias and Emma MacIvey arrive in the Florida wilderness with their son, Zech, to start a new life, and ends in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that his wealth has not been worth the cost to the land. Between is a sweeping story rich in Florida history with a cast of memorable characters who battle wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the Florida swamp. In this volume, meet young Zech MacIvey, who learns to ride like the wind through the Florida scrub on Ishmael, his marshtackie horse, his dogs, Nip and Tuck, at this side. His parents, Tobias and Emma, scratch a living from the land, gathering wild cows from the swamp and herding them across the state to market. Zech learns the ways of the land from the Seminoles, with whom his life becomes entwined as he grows into manhood. Next in series > > See all of the books in this series

A reflective look at some of those responsible for the placement of Jacksonville, Florida on the universal map of rock and roll. This autobiographical account of personal and professional triumph and tragedy takes the reader through the formative years of both Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special, recounting those days when making records was only a dream. Former 38 Special stage manager and co-writer, Larry Steele, gives a first-hand account of growing up on the Westside of Jacksonville, of forming his first band with Allen Collins, and of the journey they each pursued, where scores of novice musicians sought a better way of life. Steele describes his own experiences as a musician, along with the friendships that would endure the rivalry which existed between his own band and those who would eventually become Lynyrd Skynyrd. After years of performing with various bands in the North Florida area, including a brief stint with Skynyrd in 1973, Steele would begin his employment with 38 Special in January, 1980. From here is chronicled the 38 story from its very beginning; the frustrations of living in the shadow of Skynyrd while trying to perfect a sound of their own, and the decision to push forward after the tragic loss of their friend, brother and mentor, Ronnie Van Zant. From the rehearsal hall, to the recording studios, to headlining the most renowned concert venues of North America, Europe and Japan, take a ride on the buses, planes and bullet trains that took them all the way there.

"...stories which tell about the lives, ambitions, entrepreneurships, and accomplishments of African Americans and their institutions, in four neighborhoods of Jacksonville, FL during the 20th century."--[p. 4] of cover.

The enduring achievement and legacy of a rock movement Florida Book Awards, Bronze Medal for Florida Nonfiction The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd helped usher in a new kind of southern music from Jacksonville, Florida. Together, they and fellow bands like Blackfoot, 38 Special, and Molly Hatchet would reset the course of seventies rock. Yet Jacksonville seemed an unlikely hotbed for a new musical movement. Michael FitzGerald blends eyewitness detail with in-depth history to tell the story of how the River City bred this generation of legendary musicians. As he profiles essential bands alongside forerunners like Gram Parsons and Cowboy, FitzGerald reveals how the powerful local AM radio station worked with newspapers and television stations to nurture talent. Media attention in turn created a public hungry for live performances by area bands. What became the southern rock elite welded relentless determination to a ferocious work ethic, honing their gifts on a testing ground that brooked no weakness and took no prisoners. FitzGerald looks at the music as the diverse soundtrack to a neo-southern lifestyle that reconciled different segments of society in Jacksonville, and across the nation, in the late sixties and early seventies. A vivid journey into a crucible of American music, Jacksonville and the Roots of Southern Rock shines a light on the artists and songs that powered a phenomenon.