Drawing upon the lore of the true cracker,
Vic Knight’s Florida points out everything you
thought you knew about Florida. Sit back with the wit and wisdom of a tenth-generation native as he tells the real history of the Sunshine State that you didn’t learn in school. Covering five centuries of people and events, plus speculations on the next century as well,
Vic Knight’s Florida spins the yarns that give Florida its unique character.
Knight dispels many historical myths, starting with how the name was chosen. Most people, Floridians and foreigners alike, would claim that “Florida” came from a Spanish word for flowers. Actually, Florida is named for Pascua de Flores, the Spanish name for Easter Sunday, the day Ponce de Leon first set foot on Cape Canaveral’s sandy shore. Another historical piece of lore describes how the Johnson administration nearly removed five hundred years of history in just thirty minutes when it tried to change the name of Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy.
Other points of trivia include the story of the hotel run by the Duchess of Windsor; a single bud of a Japanese plant that created a nightmarish choking of the major waterways; the land boom towns that failed and those that survived when railroads came through; and how for a brief period in time, Florida was its own country.
About the Author
Vic Knight has compiled his stories from a variety of respected sources, but the telling is all his. He brings a stylish humor to each story with a flair for highlighting the funny, but true, folklore of the state. Knight has owned and operated four radio stations throughout Florida and currently produces his own nationally syndicated Big Band program from his studio at WDBF in Delray Beach. A native of St. Petersburg, he comes from a long line of crackers. Many of Knight’s forefathers are the same pioneer settlers who started some of Florida’s towns and his grandfather was a state senator. When not on the air, his voice carries across banquet halls, meeting rooms, and sundry locations, where he has entertained thousands with his popular storytelling and particular view of history.
VIC KNIGHT’S FLORIDA
By Victor M. Knight
HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South
HUMOR / General
240 pp. 6 x 9 1/4
45 Photos 4 Illustrations 2 Maps Bibliography
ISBN: 9780882899640 hc