As a salvage consultant who recovers lost items for half their value, McGee travels back roads and high roads across Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean, most often in the company of a lonely lady who has been cheated out of something valuable.īut MacDonald also has a deeper side that strikes close to the heart of anyone who loves Florida and his commentary is particularly poignant because it shows how little we've learned over the past 25 years: Parker to Florida's current favorites Randy Wayne White and Carl Hiaasen.įirst and foremost, MacDonald is an entertainer. His fans are legion, from Steven King, Dean Koontz and Robert B. MacDonald's Travis McGee novels.Ī "knight in tarnished armor" who dominated the bestseller lists between 19, McGee is a timeless hero who never fails to entertain. If you're looking for a great beach read, go back to the future and pick up one of John D. Reviewed by Victoria Parsons, editor, Bay Soundings Seek out the locals' eateries, dusty souvenir shops and cheesy tourist attractions in small towns where you'll experience Florida like it was decades ago, and where it continues to be insulated from the 21st century.
I encourage you to read Klinkenberg's books, and then to take a day trip to the Loop Road, Weeki Wachee Springs, Pass A Grille, Corkscrew Swamp, or the other special places he has written about. I think it's really an obsession to recapture and memorialize the Florida he (and I) experienced growing up - simple, salty people who loved life and made every day interesting places that make fond memories.
He really loves his work, if you can call it that. But we have seldom heard about these places or people in quite the way Jeff Klinkenberg tells their story. We've all heard about nearby landmarks like Giant's Camp, the sponge docks of Tarpon Springs, Ybor City, and Bok Tower, and about famous visitors or residents such as Babe Ruth, Ann Paul and Danilo Fernandez, Sr. Once you start reading you won't want to put down this book! Yes, the stories are short, which should enable you to stop and get your chores done, but each is so entertaining and thoughtful that you won't - you'll keep turning the pages and find yourself thoroughly engaged. But don't let the section headings get in the way. Thirty-nine stories are in this collection, separated into sections called My Florida, Florida Icons, Working Florida, Dangerous Florida, and Living and Dying. I found myself really enjoying those in this book and they left me anxious to get into the "meat" of this latest Klinkenberg gift to readers.Īs in his last book, Seasons of Real Florida (2004), which I also reviewed for Bay Soundings, this one is filled with great stories drawn, in part, from his award-winning columns in the St. I don't read the forewords and prefaces of books as a rule, but I think I'm going to start.
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