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Wormsloe Foundation Publications
Palms, Priests, and Pirates: The Epic History of Amelia Island, Florida
Not yet published
Expected 15 May 26400 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 15, 2026
About the author
Stephen Doster
9 books9 followersI was born in England to a mother who served as a WAFF on eight RAF fighter stations during World War II and a father who served as a navigator in the Pacific during that war on the USS Taylor, a Fletcher class destroyer that earned nine battle stars. Much to my good fortune, our family relocated first to Alabama, then Georgia, where I grew up on a small barrier island off the Georgia coast. St. Simons (now a resort area) is a low-country boil of clashing cultures. Timucua Indians, Spanish missionaries, English settlers, slaves and plantation owners, Confederate and Union soldiers, and Saltwater Geechee have all taken their turns on its stage, supplanting one another as lords and masters of the island. St. Simons is now the domain of middle and upper class families, though one trailer park still survives. Evidence of the area's past still abounds, and from it I draw much of the inspiration for plots and characters.
The island I grew up on happens to be on the 31st Parallel north of the Equator, which includes the geographic area below Savannah, north of the Georgia-Florida border, and everything east and west of that. Down on the 31st and 32nd Parallels, you're in the Deep South of the "Deep South". Look at all the writers who come from those strips, and don't surprised if you start to see some similarities in their works. It has to do with their shared history, the geography, and the people who inhabit those realms. Many of the early Georgia settlers traveled directly west to settle regions in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. They took their histories and their stories with them. Part of the Southern writer's job is to resurrect those stories and their histories in creating new works. It's recycling of the highest order.
I have a business degree from the University of Georgia and a masters from Vanderbilt University where I work.
The island I grew up on happens to be on the 31st Parallel north of the Equator, which includes the geographic area below Savannah, north of the Georgia-Florida border, and everything east and west of that. Down on the 31st and 32nd Parallels, you're in the Deep South of the "Deep South". Look at all the writers who come from those strips, and don't surprised if you start to see some similarities in their works. It has to do with their shared history, the geography, and the people who inhabit those realms. Many of the early Georgia settlers traveled directly west to settle regions in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. They took their histories and their stories with them. Part of the Southern writer's job is to resurrect those stories and their histories in creating new works. It's recycling of the highest order.
I have a business degree from the University of Georgia and a masters from Vanderbilt University where I work.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
HistoryNerd, Jacksonville
I drove down to Amelia Island specifically because of this book. Doster weaves together indigenous history, Spanish missionaries, French explorers, and actual pirates into one seamless narrative that reads almost like a novel. The depth of research is staggering. I've read a lot of Florida history and nothing comes close to this.
I drove down to Amelia Island specifically because of this book. Doster weaves together indigenous history, Spanish missionaries, French explorers, and actual pirates into one seamless narrative that reads almost like a novel. The depth of research is staggering. I've read a lot of Florida history and nothing comes close to this.
Review of advance copy
Amelia Island has flown eight different flags, eight! and this book honors every single era with equal care and detail. Doster doesn't rush through the inconvenient parts of history either. He gives the full picture, the complex picture, and that's what makes this such a serious and important work. Galland's photographs are absolutely stunning throughout.
Review of advance copy received from Author
OldFloridaFan
I teach Florida history at the community college level and I'm already planning to make this required reading. The section on the Spanish mission period alone is worth the price of the book. Doster clearly spent years on this and it shows. This is the kind of meticulous, passionate history writing that the state of Florida genuinely deserves.
I teach Florida history at the community college level and I'm already planning to make this required reading. The section on the Spanish mission period alone is worth the price of the book. Doster clearly spent years on this and it shows. This is the kind of meticulous, passionate history writing that the state of Florida genuinely deserves.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews