Nothing to do with racing but enjoy

[Jane]

'A Land Remembered' author Patrick D. Smith wins 2012 Florida Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing
By Colette Bancroft, Times Book Editor

Published Friday, March 2, 2012


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Novelist Patrick D. Smith is the winner of the 2012 Florida Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing.

"I'm real thrilled," Smith said by phone from his home in Merritt Island on Friday. "This is a real nice award."

Smith, 84, is the author of seven novels, a nonfiction book and a short story collection. His best-known book is A Land Remembered, a historical novel first published in 1984 by Pineapple Press of Sarasota. Smith said it has sold more than 100,000 copies.

The saga of the pioneering MacIvey family, the novel stretches from 1858 to 1968 and brings to life a harsh and wildly beautiful Florida few contemporary residents know. A two-volume edition of A Land Remembered for children is taught in many Florida schools.

"When the kids read it, they really love it," Smith says. "Some of them tell me they never really knew what those words 'family values' meant before, because people don't live with their families in the same way now. It opens their eyes."

Smith, a Mississippi native who has lived in Florida since 1966, is the recipient of many awards and honors. In 1999 he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and in 2002 the Florida Historical Society gave him its one-time-only Fay Schweim Award for Greatest Living Floridian.

The Florida Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing is presented by the Florida Humanities Council. The council's executive director, Janine Farver, said in a statement Friday that A Land Remembered is "the quintessential Florida story and should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the lives and landscape of pioneer Florida."

A panel of five judges (including Times book editor Colette Bancroft) selected Smith for this year's award. One judge, Joe Wisdom, professor of English at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, said copies of A Land Remembered "should be handed out with the orange juice at welcome stations to anyone who crosses the state line."

The award will be presented March 21 at a luncheon at the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee. Smith said he will be unable to attend because of the effects of injuries he suffered in a fall in 2009, but representatives of Pineapple Press will accept the award.

The Florida Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing was instituted in 2010; previous winners are University of Florida historian Michael Gannon and novelist and journalist Carl Hiaasen.

Colette Bancroft can be reached at cbancroft@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8435.

[egspeedway]

You have in the past been roundly criticized for some of your posts. I hope that all who read this can appreciate the extreme pride you have for your fathers accomplishments. As a native floridian I appreciate the people who have dedicated themselves to the preservation of Floridas rich and complex history and its role in the development of our nation.First to be settled first in space and what the hell where Nascar was born. Not a bad pedigree. My congratulations to your father and yourself. For what its worth I was raised in Eau Gallie ( not Melbourne as it is now known).

[billy badd]

Jane. that's just fantastic. Congratulations to your Dad, and family. I also was born and raised in Florida, and that was one of the best books that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Your family has been richly blessed. billy

[Jane]

Thank you egspeedway and Billy. I don't post that often anymore but I wanted to share this non-racing news. I know racers and fans do read and I have been told before by many that they love my dad and his books especially "A Land Remembered". Dad is 84 now and still with us and he deserves all the honors he gets. He loves Florida even though he is a Mississippi Boy that married a Florida girl. Florida is his adopted home state and if you read dad's books, you will know how much he loves this state.

So thank you and hope you enjoyed the article.

Jane, the very proud daughter of Patrick D. Smith

[racnphotos68]

Hey EG

I am a native as well. Born and raised right off of Sarno Rd and Croton.

Jane - Congrats to you and your family. That is great news!!

[egspeedway]

I am a native as well. Born and raised right off of Sarno Rd and Croton.

Jane - Congrats to you and your family. That is great news!!

I used to fish in the canal that ran under Croton Rd. Not really a canal it was the end of the Eau Gallie River.

[Jane]

Tell me, have you also read "Forever Island" and "Allapatta" about the Seminoles here in Florida too?? Also "Angel City" was a Florida book and also made into a movie for CBS many years ago. We have been trying to get the movie rights on it to put it on DVD for people. You can find most all of dad's books at www.patricksmithonline.com and I know amazon.com has alot of them too. Dad also has a new book of his short stories out now which I love.

Although dad can't go to receive his award, David is going to give dad's speech for him. David is the man who published "A Land Remembered" and also re-published A River Is Home, The Beginning, Forever Island and Allapatta into books with two books in each book. And I am the lucky daughter who gets to type dad's speech for him since it is too hard for him to do it. So I get to hear it first and I know it is good.

Yes, I am extremely proud and honored to call Patrick Smith my father. And the funny thing is, he is still the same man that I knew as a little girl growing up, just as humble as back then. My parents's house is full of awards that dad has been given over the years for his books. And all my grandchildren have the two volume books of A Land Remembered to treasure forever.

Up until dad got prostrate cancer, he was still speaking all over the state about his books and more on why we need to save Florida and leave just some of the wildness for our children's children. Dad believes that with all his heart and has always taught me that we need to preserve our past for the futures to come.

It was my dad who gave me the love of writing and it was Jack Smith who gave me the chance to show that love. Jack always wanted to spend one day with dad and talk writing with him but he never got to. And that I will always regret because Jack truly wanted that. But thanks to dad and Jack, I found my love of writing in racing and one of these days, I need to renew my love also.

But thank you for liking his books and for those of you who grew up here, you can see what we all missed back when Florida truly was a wildernes

And sorry for the book but as you can see, this is one subject that I get carried away with and always will.

Jane

P.S. Forgot to say that Carol Wicks has been a huge supporter of my dad and has gotten I think every book he wrote except for maybe two but I am not sure. But over the years, I have taken many of your books to dad to have him personally autograph them for you and I will stay do that if you let me know you want it. But thanks Carol for loving dad's books the way you have.