Jake!: The Last Southern Populist Mayor Who Transformed Jacksonville, Florida from a Sleepy City with an Inferiority Complex Into a Dynamic Metropolis with a Can-Do Attitude

by Mike Tolbert

Jake Godbold began his life during the Depression in Jacksonville public housing and selling boiled peanuts on the streets as a kid. He used his outsized personality and passion to transform his city and has remained an unmatched force in the political flow of Jacksonville for fifty years. This is the story of what happened, how it happened and why.

360 pages, Paperback

Published July 3, 2019

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently finished Mike Tolbert's new book on Mayor Godbold. It's a wonderful, fun recount of how he succeeded in Jacksonville by including people while being authentic and raising a city's spirits. It showcases how the city found a way to host Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 shows, put the groundwork in for being a NFL city and modernized the city for future growth at a time when its inferiority complex often set the city back. Mike's insight as a friend and advisor to the mayor is clear and valuable reading about Jacksonville history and how it’s leaders succeed by working together with diverse people - while still staying authentic and true.