An eighty-six-year-old Seminole Indian decides to fight back when his simple existence in the Big Cypress Swamp is threatened by a projected housing development

Forever Island

Smith, Patrick D.

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

A classic and heartbreaking tale of one man’s fight to protect nature, and a treasured way of life, against the forces of greed.In a corner of the Big Cypress Swamp, to the north of the Florida Everglades, lives Charlie Jumper, and eighty-six-year-old Seminole man. Unlike the younger American Indians who have adopted white civilization, Charlie and his wife cling to the old ways, hunting and fishing in the great swamp and farming a tiny plot of higher ground. Charlie has been diligently teaching his grandson, Timmy, about the swamp and its creatures.But their simple existence is suddenly threatened when a large tract of swamp is bought by a corporation, and Charlie is told that he will have to leave. From his youth, Charlie remembers the slaughter of egrets and alligators by the white man and the logging of the giant cypress. Rather than surrender the land that is his life to this final indignity, Charlie decides to fight back.It is an uneven contest. First come the great machines that silt up the streams; then the workmen inadvertently poison the marsh; and, attempting to sabotage the construction equipment, Charlie’s best friend is killed. Realizing that there can be no compromise with the white man who destroys all he touches, Charlie leaves his family and feels into the swamp, seeking the lost island known in the Seminole legends as Forever Island.

Literature & Fiction

United States

W.W.Norton&Company

Allapattah

Manor Books

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY.

A Land Remembered, Vol. 2

Turtleback Books

A Land Remembered

A Land Remembered has been ranked #1 Best Florida Book eight times in annual polls conducted by Florida Monthly Magazine. 
In this best-selling novel, Patrick Smith tells the story of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family who battle the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias MacIvey arrives in the Florida wilderness to start a new life with his wife and infant son, and ends two generations later in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that the land has been exploited far beyond human need. The sweeping story that emerges is a rich, rugged Florida history featuring a memorable cast of crusty, indomitable Crackers battling wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the swamp. But their most formidable adversary turns out to be greed, including finally their own. Love and tenderness are here too: the hopes and passions of each new generation, friendships with the persecuted blacks and Indians, and respect for the land and its wildlife. 
A Land Remembered was winner of the Florida Historical Society's Tebeau Prize as the Most Outstanding Florida Historical Novel. Now in its 14th hardcover printing, it has been in print since 1984 and is also available in trade paperback.

Pineapple Press

Forever Island is widely recognized as the classic novel of the Everglades.Allapattah is the story of a young Seminole in despair in the white man's world.

Forever Island and Allapattah (Patrick Smith Reader)

The River is Home, Smith's first novel, revolves around a Mississippi family's struggle to cope with changes in their rural environment.Angel City is the powerful and moving expose of migrant workers in Florida in the 1970s, which was made into a critically acclaimed film.

The River is Home and Angel City (Patrick Smith Reader)

Angel City

VALKYRIE PUB. HOUSE

In this delightful and educational DVD, Pat Smith discusses his life and writing, with an emphasis on how his Florida books were researched by his travels and work around the state. This DVD has the feel of personal contact with Florida's greatest living author. Will appeal to all ages.

Patrick Smith's Florida: A Sense of Place

This is a collection of six short stories and a poem. The short stories were written throughout Smith's writing career, going back as far as the 1960's. Reading them, you can see him developing the literary style for which he later became famous. They are a delightful trip back into the deep South. The poem was written when he was 16 years old. A White Deer And Other Stories is softbound, 104 pages, with chapter illustrations. You will love these stories: A White Deer And Other Stories Journey Into Karma Miss Jenny And the Minnows The Demise Of Bester Boo Boo A Pair Of Blue Shoes Fried Mullet And Grits. 
A White Deer And Other Stories is edited and published by Patrick Smith's son, Rick (Patrick, Jr.)

A White Deer and Other Stories

Genre Fiction

Panorama Studios

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smith, Patrick D.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Smith, Patrick D.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smith, Patrick D.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Forever Island

Forever Island

Allapattah

A Land Remembered, Vol. 2

A Land Remembered

Forever Island and Allapattah (Patrick Smith Reader)

The River is Home and Angel City (Patrick Smith Reader)

Angel City

Patrick Smith's Florida: A Sense of Place

A White Deer and Other Stories