Theodore Pratt: A Florida Writer's Life

by Taylor Hagood

Theodore Pratt (1901-1969) was the author of fifteen books that depict the Sunshine State, earning him the informal title of “Literary Laureate of Florida” in the mid-twentieth century. He portrayed the culture of south Florida, especially in his “Florida Trilogy”—which includes his most famous book, The Barefoot Mailman (1943), and continues with The Flame Tree (1948) and The Big Bubble (1949). He also wrote vividly about the Florida Keys in Mercy Island (1941), the Everglades in Escape to Eden (1953), and Chief Osceola in a novel and a play both called Seminole (1953/1954). Pratt did research for his books that created an archive that is valuable for researchers today and a collection of stories and essays, Florida Roundabout (1959),that offers a deep insight into the lives of poor whites in the state.This biography tells the story of Pratt’s life and work to Florida fans, teachers, young writers, and literary scholars who are interested in southern literature, Florida literature, and mid-century American film and literature.

265 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 6, 2024

Reviews

[James Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much-needed first-time biography of the most prolific fiction writer of South Florida history. Many of his books were written as commercial pulp fiction, but others - such as The Barefoot Mailman and The Flame Tree deserve to be called classics about Florida life in the early days of boom and bust. Pratt, who lived in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, explored/researched every facet of Florida life from fishermen to cracker cattlemen to surviving Seminoles.