Scribes of the Sunshine State

The Matheson History Museum and the Writers Alliance of Gainesville (WAG) teamed up to present the second “Scribes of the Sunshine State” program. Four distinguished authors — Mary Wood Bridgman, Jack E. Davis, Kate Dupes Hawk, and Darlene Marshall — shared how Florida inspired their writing. See their bios below.

This program was held in conjunction with the museum’s April – June, 2016, exhibition: “Liquid Gold: The Rise and Fall of Florida Citrus.”

WAG furnished refreshments, and a book signing followed the program.

Mary Wood Bridgman, a lawyer and former corporate executive, resides on the shores of Kingsley Lake in Clay County. Her professional writing has appeared in national, regional, and local publications, from Chicken Soup for the Soul to The Bradford County Telegraph. Mary has won honors from Writer’s Digest, the Florida Writers’ Association, and the Sandhills Writers’ Conference. She has taught writing courses at the University of North Florida and has frequently contributed to public radio (WJCT 89.9 FM in Jacksonville). She currently contributes to Our Town magazine and serves as Managing Editor for Bacopa Literary Review, published annually by WAG.

Jack E. Davis has taught history at the university level for nearly two decades. In 2002-2003, he taught on a Fulbright award at the University of Jordan in Amman. He is now a professor of history at the University of Florida, where his work focuses on U.S. environmental history. Davis prefers to write for an intellectually curious reader rather than an academic audience. His Race Against Time: Culture and Separation in Natchez Since 1930 won the Charles S. Sydnor Prize for the outstanding book in southern history for 2001. An Everglades Providence: Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the American Environmental Century, Davis’s latest book, received the gold medal for best nonfiction in the Florida Book Awards. Two Charlie Awards — first place for best feature writing and for best in-depth reporting — from the Florida Magazine Association recognized his 2011 article on the Gulf of Mexico, the subject of his next book.

Kate Dupes Hawk wrote Florida and the Mariel Boatlift of 1980, which won the 2015 Stetson Kennedy Award from the Florida Historical Society. The 1980 Mariel Boatlift was a profound episode in twentieth-century American history, impacting not just Florida, but the entire country. During the first twenty days of the boatlift, with little support from the federal government, the state of Florida coordinated and responded to the sudden arrival in Key West of more than thirty thousand Cuban refugees, the first wave of immigrants who became known as “Marielitos.” Hawk has also developed three museums for the Florida National Guard Historical Foundation and was awarded the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service medal for her work on the Camp Blanding, Florida, Museum of World War II.

Darlene Marshall writes award-winning stories of romance and adventure, featuring pirates, privateers, smugglers and the occasional possum. She lives in North Florida and loves being a writer because her work wardrobe is shorts, sandals and tropical shirts with flamingos. The best days are when she puts the convertible top down and cruises over to the beach to do research.The Pirate’s Secret Baby won the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers and the Readers’ Choice Award from New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America (RWA). Castaway Dreams won the Aspen Gold Reader’s Choice Award, and Florida-set The Bride and The Buccaneer received the First Coast Romance Writers Beacon Award for best historical. Her books are available in print, ebook format, Kindle editions, and also in German and Estonian editions.