Tag: Florida

‘Path of the Panther: New Hope for Wild Florida’ by Carlton Ward Jr.

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn conservation

CBS news reports that “Three dozen endangered Florida panthers died this year, the most in nearly a decade, according to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It’s the most panther deaths since 2016, when 42 panthers were killed.”

All the more reason to read this 2023 book, follow panther-related conservation organizations such as Wildpath, for FL residents purchase a protect the panther license plate, and keep up with news about Florida conservation efforts.

From the Publisher

“The panther is the state animal of Florida, the last big cat surviving east of the Mississippi River, and an emblem of the Endangered Species Act. It was driven to extinction in the eastern United States, except for a small remnant population that persisted in Florida’s Everglades. Panther numbers had dwindled to fewer than 20 individuals by the 1980s, but heroic conservation efforts have helped panthers come back to nearly 200 today. The biggest obstacle for the panther’s continued recovery is access to enough of its historic territory throughout Florida and beyond.

“The tale of the Florida panther has grown from the unlikely survival of a rare cat to a story of hope for all of wild Florida. Path of the Panther in now a call to action to recognize and protect the Florida Wildlife Corridor – a network of public and private land that connects the panther’s current range in south Florida to suitable habitat throughout the state of Florida and adjoining states.

“The Florida Wildlife Corridor is the panther’s path to recovery and a western-scale conservation opportunity that remains largely hidden in the east. It is now as a Last Wild Places partnership with the National Geographic Society. With 27 percent of Florida already protected as public land, this project aims to inspire the additional one million acres of conservation needed over the next decade so that Florida can be a leader in the goal of protecting 30 percent of the planet by 2030.

“Photographer Carlton Ward helped put the Florida Wildlife Corridor on the map by trekking from the Everglades to Georgia in 2012 and from the Everglades Headwaters around the Gulf of Mexico to Alabama in 2015. Through these National Geographic–supported expeditions, he and his team have witnessed that a path for the panther’s recovery still exists. But with 1,000 new residents moving to Florida every day, and more than 100,000 acres of habitat lost to development each year, to window to save it is closing quickly. Through Ward’s intimate photographs, expert essays and compelling maps, the Path of the Panther book, combined with a National Geographic magazine article, National Geographic Society Last Wild Places campaign, and feature documentary film, is poised to awaken people to wild Florida and inspire them to save it.”

Happy New Year

–Malcolm

Short Story Collection: The Land Between the Rivers features three tales set before the dawn of recorded time in the Florida Panhandle world bordered by the Apalachicola River, Ochlockonee River and the Gulf of Mexico. This diverse environment of coastline, baygalls, swamps and forests includes the beautiful and notorious Tate’s Hell State Forest. In How the Panther Lost Her Roar, you’ll meet the rare and endangered Florida Panther that could be found in Tate’s Hell as late as the 1960s. In How the Snake Bird Learned to Dry His Feathers, you’ll meet a Florida bird—also called the Anhinga—that learns to swim before he learns to fly. And, in How the Bear Found Her Favorite Food, you’ll learn what the Florida black bear eats when she has her choice. These stories begin where the Seminole Creation Myth ends as seen through the eyes of Eulalie, the root doctor in my novella Conjure Woman’s Cat, available in both electronic and print formats.

DISPROPORTIONATE USE OF FORCE AGAINST PEACEFUL STUDENT PROTESTERS IN FLORIDA CANNOT STAND, COALITION SAYS

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn issues, writing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 22, 2024
PEN AMERICA
(MIAMI)— A coalition of Florida and national organizations replied to a letter from the State University System of Florida (SUS) today, again urging Florida university leadership to adhere to constitutional obligations by rejecting the use of disproportionate police force and harsh tactics against student protests.The coalition first wrote to the presidents of Florida’s colleges and universities on May 3, raising alarm about the disturbing use of force against pro-Palestanian student protests on campuses, and expressing concerns about safety and basic free speech rights. In his response on May 9, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues alleged that Florida’s response was appropriate and within constitutional boundaries, applauding Florida’s “unapologetically partnering with law enforcement.”

Today, the coalition responded to Chancellor Rodrigues, challenging the justification offered for the use of force, and noting the worrisome mischaracterization of constitutionally protected student speech as violence or harassment. The coalition raised concerns about evidence of viewpoint-based discrimination seen in statements by senior administration officials, and emphasized the importance of preserving academic freedom and free speech on campuses amid rising student unrest. Coalition members also invited SUS leadership to meet to discuss these concerns and their resolution.

Katie Blankenship, director of PEN America Florida, said: “Student protests on Florida campuses have rarely been met with this level of unnecessary hostility and violence. Even when it involves civil disobedience, peaceful protest should be met with a proportional response that does not physically harm students or suppress their constitutionally protected speech. Under a governor who has incited hostility towards peaceful student demonstrators and called for their expulsion, the actions of many Florida universities have been worrisome and dangerous, posing  risk to student and faculty safety. We hope the SUS will take our response as an opportunity for productive conversation about how to protect all students and their free speech rights.”

—Malcolm

Strange Fruit on Florida Trees

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Florida, writing

“A 1993 study indicates that between 1882 and 1930, one out of every 1,250 African Americans in Florida was lynched. A black person was almost twice as likely to be lynched in Florida as in Georgia, and seven times more likely in Florida than in North Carolina. ” – Florida Historical Society

The title of this post refers to the Billy Holiday song “Strange Fruit” about the African American lynchings that begins: “Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees”

Scholars are argue about whether or not Holiday’s career ended prematurely after the recorded this song. I don’t know if it did, but I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s not easy to listen to–just reading the lyrics is repulsive, especially to those of us who grew up in a Florida that had the most lynchings per capita of all states.

Tallahassee put up this marker in in 2021, better late than never

This song has been on my mind as I debate whether or not to include a lynching in my novel in progress, one described in some detail. The research has made me sick. Growing up in Florida during the Jim Crow era, I heard and read about lynchings in the news. They weren’t stories from one hundred years ago, but from “today and last night.”  Saying anything in private conversations, much less in public, was dangerous because the Klan and its sympathizers were everywhere, next door perhaps or at club and church meetings. Express displeasure about a lynching, and you  might be next. Or you might find a cross burning on your lawn and then find our friends disappearing to avoid being seen associating with you.

Suffice to say, I have good reason to include a lynching in a novel because strange fruit, although not part of the citrust industry, was part of the scenery. 

I should, but I don’t think I can.

–Malcolm

 

 

With no outline, whatever happens is a surprise

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing

A few of my posts have mentioned the benefits I see in writing novels without the constraints of an outline.

Among other things, the freewheeling approach makes writing the book as much fun as reading the book. Every time I start a new chapter, I have no idea what’s coming.

In my novel-in-progress, an FBI agent is in an abandoned house with her prisoner. She glances out one of the back windows and sees 25 armed women standing at the edge of the woods behind the house. Seems like they’re planning to storm the place.

I wasn’t ready for this! Now I’ve got to figure out what the agent will do to get out of the potential mess. She can’t start shooting because many of the women are her friends.  She’s in disguise, so they won’t know her, and that’s good. I think. Maybe.

No outline = fun and/or thrills and chills at the keyboard.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the four books in the Florida Folk Magic Series. They’re available in multiple formats including a Kindle volume that contains the whole series.

‘The Florida Skunk Ape’ by Jacob Desjarlais

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn folklore, writing

“The skunk ape is a large and hairy human-like mythical creature purported to inhabit the forests and swamps in the southeastern United States, most notably in Florida. It is often compared to, synonymous with, or called the “cousin” of Bigfoot, a prominent subject within North American popular culture.

Many dubious articles have been presented in an attempt to prove the skunk ape’s existence, including anecdotal sightings, disputed photographs, audio and video recordings, and casts of large footprints. The majority of mainstream scientists have historically discounted the existence of the skunk ape, considering it to be the result of a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, rather than a living animal. The skunk ape has permeated into the popular culture of the southern United States, especially in Florida” – Wikipedia.

Books about Florida’s folklore often reference the Skunk Ape. Among those is a short Kindle book released in 2020 by Jacob Desjarlais that bills itself as “A Compete History” all in 26 pages.

From the Publisher

“Jacob Desjarlais grew up on the edges of the swamp less than 50 miles from where the original Skunk Ape sightings started popping up. The Skunk Ape, the stinky cousin of the Pacific Northwest’s Bigfoot, was the original Florida Man, known for bursting out of bushes and attacking cars. Desjarlais examines Skunk Ape sightings that pre-date Florida statehood as well as the history of the beast’s name. With a look at how breeding populations would work with the sustainability of the cryptid, fossil evidence, and even social media’s impact, Desjarlais leaves no fern unturned in his search for the possible realities behind the Skunk Ape myth. Through his investigation, he outlines who has been involved in furthering the myth and who could be profiting from it along the way.

“The Florida Skunk Ape: A Complete History is Book One in a series of Conspiracy Chapbooks written by Jacob Desjarlais that explore controversial subjects and outlines the history and ramifications of them. From who believes to who profits, Desjarlais investigates topics ranging from Skunk Apes and Ticks to the Panama Papers and Phantom Time.”

You can also find information about the critter at Shealys Skunk Ape Headquarters in Ochopee, FL.

–Malcolm

Those tricky map questions

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn geography

I disliked my University’s mandatory ROTC requirement which, in reality helped very little since I ended up in the Navy.  But they had a map reading course which was very helpful when I hiked and climbed mountains in the West. What I realized over the years is that most Americans know very little about geography because everything’s so far away in the USA that they never see it.

So, it’s not surprising that most of us miss map-orientned questions, fairing quite poorly compared to the Europeans. Hell, if you live in Texas and start a road trip you’ll be a senior citizen before you get outside the state.

At any rate, how to do you expect people to answer the question “what is the northern-most, southern-most, eastern-most, and western-most that in the Union?

For southern-most, people will say Florida. Nope, it’s Hawai’i, specifically Ka Lae on the Big Island. People find that hard to see since Hawai’i is usually placed in a subsection of US maps, so its geographical relationship to the rest of the country isn’t clear.

If people remember Alaska, they’ll say it’s the northern-most state. If they forget Alaska, they’ll say “Maine.”

Asking about the western-most state gets you a lot of answers.  A lot of peole will blurt out “California” and then sheepishly say, “oh yeah, it’s Hawai’i.” Both answers are wrong. Alaska’s islands stretch out farther west than Hawai’i. If you compare the location of the Aleutian Islands on a map–better yet, a globe–you’ll see they’re farther west than Hawai’i. Once you see the map, it’s obvious that Alaska is farther west than Hawai’i.

When asked about the eastern-most state, most people will say “Maine.”  It’s not a bad answer other than the fact that it’s wrong. According to the sporcle blog: “Remember how we said Alaska was the westernmost state in the entire US? It is true. Cape Wrangell, Alaska, is 172 degrees 27 minutes east.

“Notice anything odd about those degrees? Remember, we said there are certain technicalities to account for when it comes to farthest directional points. Cape Wrangell is so far west, it actually crosses the 180th meridian into the Eastern Hemisphere. So technically, Alaska is also the easternmost point in the US.”

Alaska takes the prize. Who knew? If you win any money with these questions in bar bets, please send my share to me via Paypal.

—Malcolm

ADDITIONAL PARENTS JOIN LAWSUIT AGAINST BOOK BANS IN FLORIDA’S ESCAMBIA COUNTY

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing7 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – PEN.ORG

July 21, 2023

(PENSACOLA, FL)— Five additional parents today joined a first-of-its-kind federal lawsuit filed earlier this spring challenging the removals and restrictions of books from libraries in a Florida school district that violate their rights to free speech and equal protection under the law.

The amended suit, led by the free expression organization PEN America, Penguin Random House and a diverse group of authors and parents of Escambia County students, seeks to ensure access to books on a wide range of topics with a wide range of viewpoints. The plaintiffs are represented by Ballard Spahr LLP and Protect Democracy, a non-partisan, pro-democracy group. Read the amended complaint, filed today, here.

This brings the number of parent plaintiffs in the case to seven, with 10 children from diverse backgrounds in elementary, middle and high school. The suit was filed originally on May 17 against the Escambia County School Board asking for books to be returned to school library shelves where they belong. After the complaint was filed, the plaintiffs were granted time to amend it with additional plaintiffs.

“As a Black mother of two teenage girls, I know how important it is for our children to have access to books like The Freedom Writers Diary and Beloved,” said Carin Smith, a parent who joined  the lawsuit. “I respect the right of parents to make decisions with and for their own children. In my opinion, we should not shy away from the real, raw struggles this country has faced, and my girls shouldn’t be deprived access to books on those issues because our stories make someone else uncomfortable.”

Benjamin Glass, another parent joining the suit, noted, “Someone with a master’s degree in library science, also known as a librarian, should be deciding what’s in libraries – not politicians. Parents, of course, should be involved in what is in their own child’s best interest to read. But they shouldn’t be making decisions on behalf of other people’s children. You parent your child, I’ll parent mine, and we’ll let librarians do their jobs. That sounds good to me.”

Since the lawsuit was filed in May, the Escambia School District has continued its policies of removing books from school libraries. In that time an additional 21 book titles have been challenged and 17 have been restricted, including Pulitzer Prize winning Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, the landmark graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore, and the horror novel It by Stephen King.

“School officials shouldn’t use their authority to force their own ideological convictions on students,” said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America. “The new plaintiffs have kids in middle and high schools, going through a pivotal time of learning, exploration and intellectual development. We should not be sending them the message that books are dangerous. By defending their freedom to read, we will ensure that schools remain places where students are exposed to complex ideas and stories instead of being taught that society does not trust them enough to allow them to pick up a book.”

The authors involved in the suit, all of whom have either already had their books removed by the district and/or restricted from student access, include author and children’s book illustrator Sarah Brannen, young adult fiction authors David Levithan, George M. Johnson and Ashley Hope Pérez, and children’s book author Kyle Lukoff, all of whom have published works focusing on identities that are historically underrepresented in school libraries.

Lynn Oberlander, counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP, noted, “In removing and restricting access to over 150 books from the libraries on the basis that they expressed disfavored viewpoints, the school board in Escambia County violated the constitutional rights of students, parents, authors and publishers. We are pursuing this case to vindicate those rights, and to stop agents of government from limiting access to ideas and perspectives with which it disagrees in our nation’s schools.”

“The school board is removing books from the school library based on the political views of a small minority,” said Shalini Agarwal, counsel for Protect Democracy. “In removing and restricting the books, the school board is overriding the recommendations of district review committees designed to evaluate books with parent and community feedback. This isn’t simply an affront to parents, it’s a violation of the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause.”

Florida to Ban All Books in All Public and School Libraries

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn satire

Tallahassee, Florida, June 7, 2023, Star-Gazer News Service–The Governor’s office announced here today that all books held in public school libraries, state university libraries, and city/county libraries are banned until further notice.

According to more or less informed sources, the action will save taxpayers millions of dollars that have heretofore been used to ban books individually.

Chief of Staff Honoré de Balzac told reporters at this morning’s briefing, “Le Gouverneur travaille 24 heures sur 24 pour garder les mauvais livres loin de tout le monde.” A translator flown to Tallahassee from Paris said that Balzac said, more or less, that the Governor was spending a lot of time and money chasing his tail on the book banning program and needed to use the time and money to govern the entire state and destroy Disney instead of worrying about “nasty” books.

DeSantis, who claims to be an “old fashioned American with old fashioned American values as promulgated in the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books,” said that HB7, known as the Stop W.O.K.E. act was passed “to keep our state from being taken over my the kinds of screwed up people who belong in California and other godless places like Oregon.”

According to Balzac, “Le canular de l’interdiction des livres est désormais une réalité.” His statement was translated to mean “a hoax is a hoax is a hoax.”

Stoned sources said that DeSantis wants to return Florida–and the entire country–to the out-of-date ideas of the Founding Fathers who–if alive today–wouldn’t know the difference between a thumb drive and sitting on ones thumb.

“I’m a mom, apple pie, and The Good Book kind of guy,” DeSantis said, “and that means woke is broke.”

–Story filed by Jock Stewart, Special Investigative Reporter

The first potpourri of April

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Potpourri
  • If I believed in omens, I would see it as a good sign that my riding mower started on the first try when I mowed the yard earlier this week. Now I have to get the older car started after it sat idle all winter. I don’t want the newer car smelling like gasoline after I refill the gas cans for the next lawn mowing adventure–coming soon to a blog post near you.
  • As I finally finished re-reading Richard Powers’ The Overstory, my favorite quote is:  “You and the tree in your backyard come from a common ancestor. A billion and a half years ago, the two of you parted ways. But even now, after an immense journey in separate directions, that tree and you still share a quarter of your genes. . . .” I also liked: “This is not our world with trees in it. It’s a world of trees, where humans have just arrived.”
  • In her post, “My Creative Process,” a favorite author Julianna Baggott describes an approach to writing that sounds very familiar to many of us who write. For me, her lead paragraph says it all: “My creative process doesn’t have edges. I am writing all the time. I experience the world as me but simultaneously as an artist looking for moments when the story world and the actual world bounce light off of each other. I am constantly running a story in my head, sometimes a few of them. I am constantly collecting moments from life to hoard for the next story. “ And then, too, “There’s the moment, inevitably, when the project leaves me—and the process that story has carved out inside of me ends—and the project becomes a product. Art, when money is involved, becomes a commodity. This is when I say goodbye to it emotionally. It’s hard and at the time when a lot of people start to get excited about sharing it with the world, I tend to say goodbye and snip all the wires that connect the story to my heart—like I’m diffusing a bomb.” 
  • I often use my Facebook headers for pictures of the locations of my books. This one shows a scene very typical of Florida Panhandle where I’ve set Conjure Woman’s Cat and the subsequent novels in that series. I try to show prospective readers where my words will take them–and remind myself about the environment where I grew up.
  • When I used the name chow chow in my novel in progress, I wondered how many people–even in the South–know anything about this traditional Southern relish made from the last vegetables (except hot peppers) in the garden. Years ago, everyone here knew what it was and put up a lot of veggies by making it. In “real life” the relish looks just like Sally Vargas’ photo. If you want to experiment, you can find a good recipe here.
  • And, I’ll finish with a hearty “welcome back to the States” for my brother and his wife who spent about a month touring Australia and New Zealand. When they said they came home experiencing a lot of jet lag, I mentioned that when I came home from the Pacific on an aircraft carrier, there wasn’t any jet lag, and I’m betting we had better chow (not chow chow) than Barry and Mary were served on the plane.

–Malcolm

FL GOVERNOR DESANTIS’ PROPOSALS ON HIGHER EDUCATION POSE A GRAVE THREAT TO ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND FREE SPEECH AT PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2, 2023

NEW YORK — PEN America today called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s announcement of a broad outline of legislation to restrict the historic autonomy of higher education “a grave threat to free speech and academic freedom” at Florida’s public colleges and universities.

Among other changes, the governor’s proposals announced Tuesday would ban critical race theory (CRT) and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (DEI) at universities; effectively end tenure protections by giving boards of trustees hiring and firing power over faculty; rewrite university mission statements; compel colleges and universities to deprioritize certain fields that are deemed to further a “political agenda”; and “overhaul and restructure” New College of Florida, whose new board of trustees, made up largely of conservative pundits, on Tuesday fired the college president and replaced her with a political ally of the governor.

In response to the proposals, Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America, released the following statement:

“These proposals represent nothing less than an effort to substitute the dictates of elected officials for the historic autonomy of higher education institutions. If enacted, they would unquestionably pose a grave threat to free speech on Florida campuses. The core freedom that is a vital prerequisite of academic research and teaching is the ability of scholars and students to pursue lines of inquiry, and this in turn depends on a university remaining free from political interference.

“Further,” Young continued, “the recent actions at New College — where a board selected to further an ideological agenda fired the president at its first meeting — reflects the inclinations of a government that wants to exert greater and narrower ideological control over higher education; not one that respects open inquiry or academic freedom. This proposal and these actions deserve vehement and vigorous opposition from all who hold free speech on campus dear.”

–

I went to public school and college in Florida. If I were a student in that system now, I’d be worried about the governor’s dictatorial approach to a system that should be immune from DeSantis’ political beliefs and agenda. Sooner or later, the universities will face accreditation problems.

–Malcolm