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Nine Florida Stories
"A collection of tales boiling with real estate dealers, egret poachers, rumrunners, mango growers, sportsmen, land grubbers, murderers, and mosquitoes. First printed in The Saturday Evening Post during the 1920s, '30s, and '40s, these stories constitute a rip-snorting glimpse back to a South Florida that now exists only in memory."--Miami Herald
"Reflects the same concerns found in her better-known non-fiction work--a fascination with the beauty of Florida and a warning against its imminent destruction."--Tallahassee Democrat
The subjects that would fire Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s enthusiasm for the rest of her life first appeared in her short fiction published in the 1920s. Florida’s most celebrated environmentalist, the author of The Everglades: River of Grass, wrote even then about protecting South Florida’s fragile ecosystem and the state’s endangered species, about the dangers of short-sighted land development, and about Florida history.
The nine stories in this first collection take place in a scattering of South Florida settings--Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, the Tamiami Trail, the Keys, the Everglades—and reveal the drama of hurricanes and plane crashes, of kidnappers, escaped convicts, and smugglers.
Editor Kevin McCarthy relates each story to Douglas’s life and points out the autobiographical touches which surface frequently in her stories.
"Reflects the same concerns found in her better-known non-fiction work--a fascination with the beauty of Florida and a warning against its imminent destruction."--Tallahassee Democrat
The subjects that would fire Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s enthusiasm for the rest of her life first appeared in her short fiction published in the 1920s. Florida’s most celebrated environmentalist, the author of The Everglades: River of Grass, wrote even then about protecting South Florida’s fragile ecosystem and the state’s endangered species, about the dangers of short-sighted land development, and about Florida history.
The nine stories in this first collection take place in a scattering of South Florida settings--Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, the Tamiami Trail, the Keys, the Everglades—and reveal the drama of hurricanes and plane crashes, of kidnappers, escaped convicts, and smugglers.
Editor Kevin McCarthy relates each story to Douglas’s life and points out the autobiographical touches which surface frequently in her stories.
- GenresHistoryShort Stories
198 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 1990
2 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
26 books50 followersMarjory Stoneman Douglas (April 7, 1890-May 14, 1998) was an American journalist, writer, feminist, and environmentalist.
She was best known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for The Miami Herald, Douglas became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines.
Her most influential work was the book, The Everglades: River of Grass, which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river, instead of a worthless swamp; its impact has been compared to that of Rachel Carson's influential book Silent Spring.
She was best known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for The Miami Herald, Douglas became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines.
Her most influential work was the book, The Everglades: River of Grass, which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river, instead of a worthless swamp; its impact has been compared to that of Rachel Carson's influential book Silent Spring.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 21, 2014
The author wrote these stories for and were published in the Saturday Evening Post. Their subject matter were Florida issues that Marjory Stoneman Douglas was very interested in and throughout her life helped bring them to Floridians' (and the nation's) attention. These include shady and sleazy real estate agents and developers, despoiling the Floridian environment and wildlife, smuggling and hurricanes among others. The author's writing is very descriptive and her stories are so interesting and entertaining that I raced through each one to get to its conclusion. Highly recommended.
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October 3, 2025How I loved reading these stories set in Florida—where the places, the plants, the animals, and the weather were all very familiar to me! Mrs. Douglas’s Florida stories were very popular because in the early 1900’s the exotically beautiful setting was new to literature. The stories themselves are gripping. There are airplane accidents; encounters with rumrunners, egret poachers, and murderers; hurricanes; mosquitoes; and sawgrass. Yet, the focus of the stories is the landscapes of the country and of the mind. The characters are complex, and we learn something here of regret, perseverance, love, courage, wit, integrity, loyalty, and crazy dreams.
Stories in this volume are “Pinelands,” “A Bird Dog in the Hand,” “He Man,” “Twenty Minutes Late to Dinner,” “Plumes,” “Bees in the Mango Bloom,” “By Violence,” “September—Remember,” and “The Road to the Horizon.”
A brief introduction to the volume takes each story and describes its environmental and historical contex. This book is a must for any Floridian!
Stories in this volume are “Pinelands,” “A Bird Dog in the Hand,” “He Man,” “Twenty Minutes Late to Dinner,” “Plumes,” “Bees in the Mango Bloom,” “By Violence,” “September—Remember,” and “The Road to the Horizon.”
A brief introduction to the volume takes each story and describes its environmental and historical contex. This book is a must for any Floridian!
January 24, 2008
Florida's Flannery O'Connor.
February 11, 2017
These short stories, all written in the1920s, still read very well. The stories were well written, diverse and all included south Florida locations that came alive.
October 6, 2021
Really enjoyed this. Douglas' writing is beautiful and descriptive, really makes you feel like you are in the Florida settings she is writing about. I really think she and her writing should be better known today. Stories drew you in and were very human, makes you realize that what people worry and care about doesn't change a whole lot.
March 2, 2017
Ms. Douglas is a piece of Florida history, and responsible for helping to save the mangroves. So I was interested to read her short stories. Some of them are spell-binding.
August 15, 2020
Great stuff. A glimpse in to old Florida life that is long gone. A good compliment to the other FL books I'm reading and have read this year.
January 21, 2023
Well written, fascinating snapshots of South Florida from a very different era. Trouble in paradise, even back then.
October 30, 2024
A beautiful deranged portrait of a place I love from a different era. Marjory Stoneman Douglas man , so good.
May 19, 2025
Rare visions of old south Florida. Thoroughly enjoyed.
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December 8, 2025“Ms. Douglas has watched Miami grow from a small town of fewer than 5,000 people in 1915 into the huge international city it is today. She worries that many of the approximately 900 people who move to Florida every day are unaware of the fragile balance between nature and humans, that many of them come from more environmentally sound locations, and that too many look on the Everglades as a swamp to be drained for more homes.”
My favorite short stories from this collection are:
“Twenty Minutes Late for Dinner”
“Plumes”
“By Violence”
“Bees in the Mango Bloom”
“September—Remember”
“‘I’ll say it’s a tough life,’ said Charlie Brown, lighting a cigarette” (75)—how could I not imagine Schulz’s Charlie Brown here?
“Somebody recited a jingle about hurricanes: July—stand by. August—look out you must. September—remember. October—all over” (169).
“It was queer to Jimmy that he was not afraid. If it were a dream he would have been shaking with horror. But it was real—as real as his sense—and he sat quietly, as they did. Perhaps it was being here with them that made the difference; men and woman and children, equally sharing in the apprehension of whatever was to come” (173).
My favorite short stories from this collection are:
“Twenty Minutes Late for Dinner”
“Plumes”
“By Violence”
“Bees in the Mango Bloom”
“September—Remember”
“‘I’ll say it’s a tough life,’ said Charlie Brown, lighting a cigarette” (75)—how could I not imagine Schulz’s Charlie Brown here?
“Somebody recited a jingle about hurricanes: July—stand by. August—look out you must. September—remember. October—all over” (169).
“It was queer to Jimmy that he was not afraid. If it were a dream he would have been shaking with horror. But it was real—as real as his sense—and he sat quietly, as they did. Perhaps it was being here with them that made the difference; men and woman and children, equally sharing in the apprehension of whatever was to come” (173).
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February 25, 2016Powerful, passionate writing! Very impressive!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews