The Wild Heart of Florida: Florida Writers on Florida's Wildlands - Softcover

Jeff Ripple (editor)|Susan Cerulean (editor)|Debbie Drake (foreword)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813016568 ISBN 13: 9780813016566

Publisher: University Press of Florida, 1999

Synopsis

The contributors to this volume write about their affection for Florida's natural beauty and their disaffection with the developments that threaten it. They evoke a state thick with pinewoods, alligators and palmetto scrub; ribboned by miles of coast and dune; and blessed with lakes and rivers.

About this title

From the Publisher

Florida writers on Florida's last, best places!
From The Wild Heart of Florida: "The calm crystal flats ofthe backcountry intrigued me the most. To wade the banks was to enter a boundless natural aquarium: starfish, nurse sharks, eagle rays, barracuda, bonefish, permit, and tarpon, all swimming literally at your feet. The flats rippled with unique tidal energies--sweltering, primeval, seemingly indomitable."--Carl Hiaasen

Eighteen of Florida’s best-loved writers here share with you their affection for Florida’s wild side--the beautiful heart of a state under siege from development. Carl Hiaasen, Randy Wayne White, Al Burt, Patrick Smith, the late Archie Carr, and others evoke a Florida thick with pinewoods, alligators, and palmetto scrub; ribboned by miles of coast and dune; blessed with backcountry lakes, rivers, creeks, and springs. Strip malls and concrete cannot tame this wild Florida, but they can kill it. These essays offer passionate argument why that should not be allowed to happen. Coming from a variety of backgrounds--fiction, journalism, poetry, and environmental writing--the writers turn their talents to one thing they have in common--a love for Florida’s natural beauty and a commitment to preserve it. Their essays--some old favorites, most appearing here for the first time--are both a celebration and a pointed reminder of what we stand to lose. Many of the areas singled out (the Lake Wales Ridge, the Panhandle’s Topsail Hill, Goethe State Forest, and Tampa’s Brooker Creek) were purchased through Florida’s Preservation 2000, one of the nation’s foremost land acquisition programs. All royalties from the book are being donated to the Florida chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

Printed on recycled paper with soy ink.

Jeff Ripple, natural history writer and photographer, is the author of five books of interpretive natural history, including Sea Turtles, Florida--The Natural Wonders, and Southwest Florida’s Wetland Wilderness: Big Cypress Swamp and the Ten Thousand Islands (UPF, 1996). He lives in Gainesville, Florida.

Susan Cerulean, writer and biologist, is co-author of Florida Wildlife Viewing Guide. In 1997, the Governor’s Council for a Sustainable Florida honored her with an Individual Environmental Educator Award. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

About the Author

Jeff Ripple, natural history writer and photographer, is the author of five books of interpretive natural history, including "Sea Turtles, Florida--The Natural Wonders," and "Southwest Florida's Wetland Wilderness: Big Cypress Swamp and the Ten Thousand Islands" (UPF, 1996). He lives in Gainesville, Florida.Susan Cerulean, writer and biologist, is co-author of "Florida Wildlife Viewing Guide." In 1997, the Governor's Council for a Sustainable Florida honored her with an Individual Environmental Educator Award. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813016568
• ISBN 13: 9780813016566
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224