Florida Lore: The Barefoot Mailman, Cowboy Bone Mizell, the Tallahassee Witch and Other Tales

by Caren Schnur Neile

Storyteller Caren Neile, PhD, shares myths, legends and folktales that reflect the diversity of characters and cultures that make Florida such a fascinating place.
Florida boasts mysterious tales that stretch back more than twelve thousand years. Dive into the lives of the proud Wakulla Pocahontas and the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge. Meet local lawbreakers like John Ashley, as well as transplants like Ma Barker and Al Capone. Stalk stumpy gators or Hogzilla as they prowl Florida's swamps and suburbs. Discover the quintessential Cracker cowboy and the Barefoot Mailman, plus the origin of names like Boca Raton and Orlando.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

176 pages, Paperback

Published December 4, 2017

Reviews

[Alysia Leonardo]

This was fun to read as a Florida girl!! I was born in south Florida and didn’t know 95% of the historical lore and folktales that make up the magic of this state. Some of the tales also brought forward the darker parts of its history which I appreciated the author for not glazing over. It can feel a little choppy reading many short tales back to back, but still recommend this book for anyone who’s curious about old Florida <3

[kuzieboo]

This book had lots of fun stories centering around Florida. It felt a little disjointed, but it was mostly random myths, legends, and folklore that loosely fit into the chapter’s category.

An interesting little read.

[Rebecca]

Easy and enjoyable read for this 5th generation Floridian. The only thing missing were descriptions of the natural environment that make this land so unique

[Nim]

From my european (Italian) point of view, this is a very informative, entertaining little collection of Florida's legends. Whether they are native myths or what I would call "urban legends", I appreciated the effort of the author in giving a picture (as sincere and lively) as possible of the variety of Florida's Lore.
I found the first part of the book the most engaging, while I did not like so much the stories of historical characters (not fictional) mainly because I would have liked more in depth information about them.
But this is my personal opinion, and I have to say that technically speaking, the stories were narrated with a good pace.
I still had fun reading the stories, and picturing the lush nature and wide landscapes of Florida, so I definitely would recommend this as a nice little book as an introduction to Florida culture.

[Jennifer Nanek]

Florida's stories

Heard a presentation by this author and bought the book. The book contains various stories and folklore from around Florida and Floridians.

My favorite is the one from Lake Wales about Spook Hill where cars roll back up the hill.

The outlaw stories and Seminole stories were some of the best ones.

Some of the stories might have been better if delivered orally rather than read.

[Sarah]

dnf-30%- the intro had me excited to read this book and then it just fell flat. I thought there would be more context or history with the lore not just a brief recount of a story. two people saw a thing in the woods and never went back .... not the most interesting.

[Kevin Christman]

Easy read, sadly rather boring and not many interesting stories. Read more like a listing of people and stories than a series of actual stories shared. Stories that were shared were very shallow tellings and lacked detail.

[Tyler V]

Great book full of amazing stories! I highly suggest everyone give this a read.

[Amy Barnett]

Fun book on Florida Stories

[Brenda C]

Very interesting storytelling of state of Florida and the many lawless characters that have passed through.

[Andy B]

2.5⭐️, 3 was generous.