Rum Runners and Moonshiners in Gainesville

Florida Author Robert Buccellato

Rumrunners and Moonshiners of Old Florida was published in January 2019. Travel back to one of the most colorful and captivating periods of Florida history, a time when the rebellious spirit of Old Florida challenged the federal government. It was a time when Prohibition ended legal production of spirits and ordinary citizens turned to a life of crime. The book contains a great deal of images on all aspects of illegal production and distribution of liquor in Florida during the 1900s. It also features a wealth of interviews and anecdotes about life in the period from those who lived through it. It is not a lengthy study of the causes of prohibition, but it is a fun, brief photo book about the great state of Florida that shines a light on a forgotten time of bootlegged liquors, corrupt rural sheriffs, crafty moonshiners, and panhandle traditions that go back centuries. 

Robert Buccellato is the author of Florida Governors Lasting Legacies, Jimmy Carter in Plains The Presedential Hometown, Finding Dan McCarthy, and Rumrunners and Moonshiners of Old Florida. Buccellato was the Historian for the Clerk of Courts for Leon County, a position created for him, between 2015-17. In 2017, Buccellato was appointed by Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum to the Canopy Roads Advisory Committee.

Buccellato lives in Tallahassee with his wife and their children. buccellato headshot

He will be at Headquarters Library to present his book on Saturday, March 16 at 2:30 pm in the Foundation Room
link below for details
https://www.aclib.us/books/blog/florida-author-robert-buccellato

Florida’s Prohibition Governor

An aide once exclaimed to members of the press, "Florida Crackers have only three friends in this world: God Almighty, Sears Roebuck and Sidney Johnston Catts."

   Born on an Alabama plantation in 1863, Sidney Johnston Catts was named after a fallen Confederate general. In 1886, he became awakened by the spiritual and profitable side of the southern Baptist church. As a Born-again pastor, and a controversial figure in history, Catts increased his notoriety by taking advantage of the terrifying spike in racial violence during that decade. Once when a black man threatened him with a knife, Catts killed him with a shotgun blast. This act of violence did little to harm Catts’s political clout among white voters
   When Catts moved to the panhandle, the region was becoming consumed with prohibition, a movement deftly led by the Anti-Saloon League and Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Protestant preachers, and First lady Jennings.  Across Florida and the South, county by county, the drys were crushing the wets at the ballot box. It was an atmosphere that seemed tailor made for a Sidney Catts, and it didn’t take long for this outlandish man to make a stab in politics.
 
A political unknown (His Campaign ad featured on the right) in Florida, he campaigned for the office of governor by walking miles and miles covering Florida with a Bible in one hand and carrying a loaded revolver in the other. He often flamboyantly stood on a stump preaching a political sermon to his supporters while wiping sweat from his ruddy red face with a large handkerchief or cooling himself with a palmetto fan. It is said that he based his political truths on "Religion, Race, and Rum." That is he believed that winning elections in the south was all about traditional religious values, white’s fears about African Americans, and public appearance of being against liquor. As his personal and professional record would later reveal he was not a true believer and only used the movement as an opportunity for advancement.





 Legend has it that what sparked Catts interest in the Governorship was his discovery that once elected, the governor can live in the Executive mansion rent free. His campaign was historic for its use of both an automobile and a loudspeaker which he would use to travel extensively to rural areas. It was in this race that a form of campaigning now referred to as “Barn storming” was born. Catts’ major opponent in the Democratic Primary was state comptroller William Knotts. Catts won the Democratic ticket by a close margin, but Knotts challenged the win in court. Knowing that the courts would back Knotts against him, Catts took to the roads in his Model T in an attempt to turn the race into a populist revolt against the corrupt establishment of state government. The state supreme court ordered a recount and Catts lost by just a few votes.

Infuriated, Catts went to the Florida Prohibition Party leadership and requested their endorsement, which was given. Catts proceeded to trounce the regular Democratic candidate at the general election. On Election Day in 1916, Sidney Catts became the 22nd Governor of Florida with 43% of the vote and the remaining candidates dividing the rest. He was one of only two candidates from the Prohibition Party to ever obtain such a high position in government; the other was Charles Hiram Randall of California, who served in Congress 1915 to 1921. Despite this feat Catts was always a true Democrat


Sidney Catt’s Inauguration was the first ever recorded on film and Catts, a former Pastor, made sure that it was an eventful ceremony. His Inaugural address would layout an agenda that was both anti-Catholic and prejudice, claiming that Pope Benedict XV was secretly trying to take over Florida. The new Governor would later not attend his own Inauguration over his own fear that the punch would be spiked.   He was fine winning as a Prohibitionist candidate. Yet, the second he won, he returned to the Democrats. Despite being a stated defender of sobriety, he shocked many of his most diehard followers by supporting legalized gambling and, his administration was attacked with charges of counterfeiting. In fact during his single four year term, he did nearly nothing for the prohibitionist cause. When it looked like statewide prohibition was going to be a reality, only then did he put his full support behind it.  Once out of the Governor's mansion, Catts for a time established a short-lived business of making patent medicines, such as Catts' Hog Tonic, which was full of booze.
After many long years of battling each other it was the temperance forces that had won the day and the writing was clearly on the wall. Still the brewer and distillers were big business. They spent plenty on money to preserve their operations. Anheuser Busch helped bankroll the United Brewers Association to counter lobby legislators who had been brew beat by the anti-saloon league.  While their efforts may have proved far too little and much too late. The momentum was with a national repeal. Luckily for many brewery owners, they had an ace up their sleeve - smuggling.

Al Capone In the Panhandle

Al Capone and Destin

   During the midst of prohibition, a group of local business leaders in Tallahassee discovered that the notorious mobster Al Capone  was passing through town. Despite his place on the FBI’s “most wanted” list, a small crowd that included a few police officers enthusiastically welcomed the gangster into the capital city. His ability to be one step ahead of the law made him a folk hero to the common man. With the manner of a lofty celebrity, Al Capone simply rolled down the window of his fast-moving black limousine and waved to the crowd now cheering wildly. 
   Although was most known for his Chicago connection and Miami vacations, Al Capone was no stranger to the Florida Panhandle. It was in the sunshine state that Capone liked to rest. The Sunshine State was his getaway from cold winters and various assassination attempts, but it was also an important part of his vast criminal empire.

The coast of North Florida was where his bootleggers would make landfall, on their long dangerous journey smuggling in spirits from the Caribbean islands.
  “One of Al’s favorite recreation spots was Grayton Beach,” claimed Frank Pericola Editor of the Panama City News Herald. Likewise, the Valpariso Inn just past Fort Walton was another local joint Scarface enjoyed visiting. But, he was always well behaved, the last thing the famous man wanted was attention of any kind.
   Although Capone purchased a massive 14-room Miami Beach retreat under his wife’s name for $40,000 in 1928, he was always moving around the state. He made countless road trips along both coastlines while his mansion was undergoing $100,000 worth of renovations, including the additions of a swimming pool, boathouse and dock. According to local historian Tony Mennillo, one of Capone’s favorite travel destinations was the Emerald Coast given that it was likewise an ideal spot for bootlegging.
“It was desolate and hard to get to, it was known for its moonshine,” said Mennillo.
   During the 1920s, Destin was something of a retreat haven for bootleggers, including Capone. Just a few years ago, the Tampa Tribune had famously proclaimed the location Florida’s “Little Vegas” for its connections to illegal gambling. Locals say Capone would run liquor through the Choctawhatchee bay. That there was a special train located in nearby Defuniak that travelled along a straight shot to Chicago, coupled with the area’s speculated waterways, seemed to confirm forever a local theory that Capone hid a smuggling operation in plain sight.

   According to the book, “Salty Memories Along the Coastal Highway” written by Tony Mennillo, many locals in Defuniak proclaim with absolute certainty that Al Capone, the legendary mobster, was there as a frequent vacationer. The stories go that a man nicknamed “Big Al” who possessed many of the same mannerisms as Al Capone was believed to be him on holiday throughout the 1920s and early 30s. Big Al had his own black limousine, not unlike the one described speeding on the streets of Tallahassee that was confirmed to belong to Capone. He had his own driver and could be found playing marathon rounds of golf on newly trimmed Bermuda grass.
   Sometimes he would approach various locals to be his golf caddies for the day. The young men always accepted the offer because he was known to be a great tipper. After he got to know them a bit he would identify himself as Al Capone. After golfing, Big Al would always take the young caddies back to his clubhouse for a beer. If the bartender declined to give the teenage caddies a beer, the rage of Capone would be felt.
He would yell, “They’re with me and I said get ’em a beer.”

Governor Carlton and Al Capone 

   In hindsight, the state is incredibly fortunate that a man like Doyle E. Carlton  was governor during some of its most difficult periods. Between 1929 and 1933, Carlton faced four major natural disasters, the final collapse of Florida’s land boom, an infestation of the Mediterranean fruit fly which crippled the state’s citrus business, and the national great depression.

   Fearless is the best word to describe the state’s 25th governor. The moral governor whose critics labeled self-righteous once vetoed a pro gambling bill despite being offered $100,000 from the state’s organized crime to sign it into law.  Governor Carlton made a powerful enemy in Florida resident and notorious mafia boss Al Capone. Carlton’s public demand that Capone sale his Miami Beach home and leave the state, caused the mobster to threaten the Governor’s life. The threat was apparently so credible that President Herbert Hoover sent special FBI agents down to the governor's mansion to beef up security.

   According to some sources, this feud stems from the actions of the Governor following Capone’s return to the state after a prolong vacation in 1930. Capone was intending to return to his Palm Island home, and it didn’t take long for Doyle E. Carlton, to issue a statement banishing Capone from returning to Florida on March 19th, 1930. Governor Carlton instructed law enforcement to detain Capone on site and escort him to the state border with instructions not to return. Once you explore the track record of many panhandle sheriffs, it’s not too difficult to understand why the Governor’s wishes weren’t carried out. In fact the behavior of many law enforcement agents towards Capone, almost revering him as a celebrity, meant that he was untouchable.
 Capone was stopped in Fort Walton for speeding according to one retired police officer.  Though as it turns out no ticket was ever recorded. It’s been speculated that the on-duty officer may have either kept it as a souvenir or made it go away. It has only been recently that archivists at the Northwest Florida Heritage Museum have uncovered photos of Capone vacationing in Panama City, which as Diane Plack is quick to proudly point out is the first real concrete proof that Capone was ever here besides the oral histories of those that interacted with him.
There he is in black and white, captured as proof.
While Capone’s legacy is one of Murder and organized crime, his numerous visits to the Florida Panhandle were nothing short of electric to those who saw him. It was here in the Florida Panhandle that he could disappear from the stresses of smuggling bootlegged Whiskey. He would use many aliases during his long travels within the sunshine state, the most prevalent being “A. Brown.” The Mobster kingpin had several ties to the sunshine state, even owning vast property in Deerfield beach. But he also had business connections in Valparaiso and Florosa Florida. Rumor has it that he would run liquor brought in from Cuba across the Choctawhatchee Bay.

For some, the jury is still out as to whether Capone spent much if anytime in the panhandle, though others firmly believe this was his home away from home. What has never been disputed was his influence on smuggling throughout the state, and while some may challenge what his Florida vacation spots were, everyone agrees that members of his organization were located across the panhandle. One story that Diane Plank tells seems to confirm that the mobster’s presence in the panhandle was common knowledge. As the story goes, a family friend when she was a young girl was caught suddenly in a rough patch of weather as she was boating in her tiny schooner along the shore. She and the other members of her party ventured into a darkened and sculpted portion of the coast and their boat was overturned suddenly. They were crowded by several tall men wearing double breasted suits who were extremely curious but equally anxious to see them leave.

Rum runners and Moonshiners of old florida now available for purchase
https://www.amazon.com/Rum-Runners-Moonshiners-Old-Florida/dp/1729616313

Images from the New BOOK Rum Runners AND Moonshiners of Old Florida

Now available for purchase



https://www.amazon.com/Rum-Runners-Moonshiners-Old-Florida/dp/1729616313

    Florida is my Home. I was born in Hollywood, Florida, just a few miles away from the old hangouts of Capone, and where the mob moved its base of operations following the glory days of Prohibition. My father's family moved there in the 1970s after nearly a century in Brooklyn. If you google my last name you'll discover no winners of high office, no Nobel prizes for medicine, or famous inventors.  What you'll find is a bunch of swarthy people with olive skin from Sicily that helped create the Mafia and a sweet bread cake of the same name from Lucca, Italy.  Legend says it was created by one of my ancestors. Clearly, he was a modest person with a self-deprecating sense of humor because it’s a giant ring-shaped fruit cake.   When I was born my Mother’s father, Walt Young, was a member of the Florida House of Representatives for Pembroke Pines, and mom being an unabashed "Daddy's Girl" dragged me over the next ten years on a series of long car drives from Hollywood to Tallahassee where he would finally retired. This long state would wiz past me and my road dog mother would take me through the back-roads of 27 to save money on tolls. There I would see the real Florida of the 1940s and 1950s, the tourism traps that seemed to die out once Disney arrived.  It was on these car rides with Mom and sometimes with my Grandpa that I learned about Florida’s culture, and its character.

But it was settling down in the Florida Panhandle that opened my eyes to a completely different slice of Florida culture. Of course, I was living in Tallahassee, a liberal cultural citadel within the Panhandle. The real Panhandle or Old Florida as its sometime called is an intriguing mix-up of rural living and beach resorts, small-town living alongside precious outlets of nature, beach and forest. The vast and compelling settings of Florida's historic past that are happily not lost in its busy present and increasing modernization.

   I married a southern belle with many Florida Cracker virtues, who along with my in-laws quickly informed me that I was not a true Southerner, but a Yankee from Miami.  Over the past five years I have studied the history of Florida's forgotten frontier and its rural past. Throughout this journey many colorful figures have come into focus. This south Florida Yankee has become intrigued with the rebellious spirit of the Florida moonshiner and cracker rum-runner. The powerful, charming, forces of nature that made their illegal products in the region’s swamps so that the rural laborer and well-dressed big city flapper alike could happily consume it. The men that made so many moonlight journeys towards their river shakes to make the shine or race it across dense forests in stolen cars from quickly unloaded schooners.  The beach hoppers and well healed tourists who came here looking for rum and spirits, and were never disappointed. Each played their small part in one of the most compelling human dramas in the sunshine state’s outlandish history. 

One of the greatest parts about gathering some of the interviews and source material for this book was the good-natured enthusiasm from the people I encountered. It was truly marvelous the way each interview began to take on a similar pattern. I would usually start off with a local group, association, or in many cases a historical society. I would make a dry call to the main location and would usually be greeted by a very friendly volunteer, who upon hearing the subject of the book would laugh loudly. The median age on the other end of the phone calls was usually about 72. So clearly, I was speaking to someone who had first-hand knowledge. 

   I would, ask them if they had any knowledge or personal experiences that could be used in the book, and the other end of the phone would then stop laughing and like clockwork grow silent. If it was a man on the other end, a moment of brief reflection was all they needed, and then they were off to the races. Almost at once they would start up the narrative of their lives. Talking about their childhood, the community they grew up in, and the adults around them who had remote connections to bootlegging or moonshiners.  

   If it was a woman on the other end, they tended to need another round of probing. Regardless of county, city, gender, or race they were all natives to the panhandle or central regions of the state. Little by little, they enjoyed talking to me about the past and the wild activities of their neighbors. But, of course there was no mention about the possible involvement of their own families. They all had one final gatekeeper to prevent me, a stranger, from getting to the fruit.  The men wanted you to know that this was a very religious part of the country.

Rum Runners and Moonshiners Now Available for Purchase

Foreword by Kartik Krishnaiyer


   It’s difficult for modern Floridians to conceive what prohibition was like, even with dry counties in the parts of the state persisting into this millennium.  It's difficult also for many in our state to really grasp how important this era was, and how much this bustling, modern mega-state was defined by the shadows of the 1920's.

   Splits between wets and dries characterized political and societal life throughout the nation. Florida was no different but as a southern, largely religious state people’s entire life and ideology were defined by if they were wets or dries.   At the beginning of the era the state’s population was skewed toward the northern part of the peninsula, which was known as the Panhandle, and where dries dominated. But by the end of the prohibition era, the state was much more balanced with huge growth in the south where wets were more prevalent. This created a unique tug of war throughout the state. Florida’s willingness to allow local municipalities to implement prohibition long before the Volstead Act passed made it a contentious issue that divided Floridians in a state that was rapidly changing. For three decades people’s entire life and ideology were defined by if they were wets or dries.

   Urbanization and immigration were leading triggers on the move for prohibition throughout the country. A fear of outsiders and a loss of simple agrarian life that was being corrupted by the bottle and vices that come with alcohol were leading justifications for dry movements that sprung up throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

   Carry Nation the country’s leading prohibitionist activist visited Florida in 1908 touring the state. Nation’s impact was profound - politicians joined her call for prohibition as did many housewives and non-political activist types. Nation’s visit helped many local municipalities push through ordinances making towns, cities and counties “dry” before the Volstead Act imposed prohibition nationally.  The impact of Nation in many small towns was pronounced. Making areas “dry” became the sole political issue in many places as early as the 1908 election.

   In one-party Florida, as with the rest of the south, politics would fall upon tribal or single-issue lines. From the late 1910’s until the last 1920’s the most important issues in the south were related to prohibition and race. Often being soft on prohibition implied a certain liberalism on race and immigration in the eyes of those who were prohibitionists. But ethnic diversity was coming to Florida and the prohibition era captivated this.

   In 1916, as prohibition was becoming the dominant domestic issue particularly in rural areas Sidney Catts was elected Governor of Florida after being denied the Democratic nomination in a recount. Catts secured the nomination of the Prohibition Party and was elected. Catts talked extensively about political & bureaucratic reform and married that rhetoric with anti-Catholicism and overt racism. Catts electoral success showed the ability of someone associated with being “dry” to buck the established Bourbon Democratic Party establishment and get elected. Catts showed how popular prohibition was among rural conservatives. Catts though a registered Democrat was the only person running on a line other than the Democratic one to win the Governorship between Reconstruction and the 1960s.

   Catts’ victory led the legislature to impose a form of prohibition statewide BEFORE the Volstead Act was passed. While Florida’s governing northern rural counties remained dry and conservative in this period for the most part other parts of the state, far-flung from the centers of power in the 1910’s and 1920’s took a different approach.
 


   Developments would soon after the imposition of state laws and the Volstead Act demonstrate how absurd a notion prohibition was in general for a state as large and diverse as Florida was becoming.  With ethnic Italians and Cubans moving into the peninsular portion state, and Catholics in general nationally "wetter" than other groups, the landscape was changing forever in the Sunshine State. These fault lines which were becoming apparently politically in the late 1910’s would be exposed once and for all in the 1920’s. In an era before interstate highways and the Florida Turnpike, before jet airplanes, before the internet and television, communications were delayed and often limited between the northern rural areas which governed Florida and the south where prohibition was disdained.

   Consistently tension in Florida politics and society in the early and mid-1900’s revolved between the rural north with most of its residents tracing their southern lineage to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi or South Carolina with the rest of the state who was filling up with people from the north and even abroad was only beginning to percolate when prohibition was implemented.  The Florida land boom coincided with prohibition and made the implementation of dry laws unrealistic beyond the small towns and rural conservative counties of the Panhandle and Big Bend.

   A vast, sprawling peninsula lay below the areas where prohibition was popular and it became almost impossible for law enforcement officers to force the laws on those areas. Much like the Seminole’s and other native Americans who had fled south into the vast hinterland of the state to remain “unconquered,” bootleggers drifted to Florida, particularly the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area.  Shootouts were common and law enforcement officials had very hard time tracking bootleggers. Meanwhile gambling became commonplace and levels of public corruption among elected officials and bureaucrats reached levels never seen in the state’s history. Law enforcement itself wasn’t immune and prostitution became more prevalent. It was an era that shaped much of the identity of South Florida and other parts of the state where prohibition was not welcomed by large portions of the population and businesses.
Just a few years earlier game wardens had filled up the region to try and prevent the illegal plume hunting - shootouts and general lawlessness followed until the trade in bird feathers dried up. But even that era seemed tame by comparison to what would happen on the Miami River and on the beaches of Miami and Fort Lauderdale in the 1920’s and early 1930’s.

   Bootlegging was common as was the ability of pharmacists and others to “prescribe” medicine with high alcohol content. In the Tampa Bay area, rum-running and other forms of bootlegging were also common and with the wide areas of undeveloped wilderness surrounding Tampa, Miami and Fort Lauderdale in the 1920’s it was easy to set-up shop outside of town or near the water and do business wherever was needed. For law enforcement cracking down on such a trade proved futile even if the politicians and other interests behind prohibition couldn’t understand the circumstances which led the Florida peninsula to be among the wettest places in the country during the 1920’s.

   In Robert Buccellato’s other works about the state we’ve seen the evolution of Florida from small town oriented and reactionary to urban mega state. In Finding Dan McCarty, Buccellato brilliantly articulates an era of Florida politics and growth where the counties of South Florida who were driving the state’s economic growth were in a tussle to wrestle political control away from the largely rural northern part of the state. This work can be considered a precursor to that book, a prequel if you like.

   The elements for a modern Florida and the explosive growth in relevance of southern Florida were intertwined with prohibition. While the common themes of land speculation, draining of the Everglades and an automobile and plane infused tourist-boom are given credit for the shift in the state, the prohibition era played an important role.

   Buccellato’s knowledge of Florida History is among the sharpest around. This period of Florida’s evolution hasn’t been appreciated enough as it played a critical role in crafting a state that was attractive for outsiders and ready to boom after World War II. This era helped make southeast Florida a more cosmopolitan melting pot than had been seen in the state’s history with migrants from the Northeast and Midwest as well as foreign immigrants. The Tampa area also grew similarly.

   What came out of the prohibition era was a more diverse state and one whose population was changing. While it took the leadership of the state decades to understand the changes and adjust accordingly, everyday life in Florida outside the small rural towns of northern Florida was never the same. While prohibition was undoubtedly a mistake spurned by an era of anxiety towards urbanization and immigration, it shaped Florida for decades to come.

Now available for purchase

https://www.amazon.com/Rum-Runners-Moonshiners-Old-Florida/dp/1729616313

New Book Rumrunners and Moonshiners of Old Florida

 

The sheer number of moonshine stills in the area that could produce a lot of smoke depending on what was used to fuel the fire lends credence to those who say it was just a giant still operation. Even today hikers walking along the national forests in Wakulla don’t have to look hard to find the traces of the era’s hidden enterprise of bootlegging and moonshining. The old timers carry it with them like a badge of honor and proudly proclaim to anyone who asks that “Yes, their folks had a moonshiner.”
 
   Helen Strickland is the president of the Wakulla Historical Society and a lifelong resident of the region. Her family once owned a gas station in Wakulla, on a popular intersection. Her family would watch cars go by on the road and her parents could tell if the owners were shiners during the 1950s and 1960s. They would sometimes even shout out “There goes a shiner or a bootlegger.” Her parents could tell because often how the shiner’s cars were built seemed to give them away.  “Often their tires were just giant and if they had shine in the trunk it would just weight down the entire structure of the automobile. Just how it was seating you could tell they were going to make a run.”

 
According to Strickland, there were bootleggers everywhere in Wakulla and in the entire panhandle for that matter.  As a child growing up after prohibition Helen Strickland would take walks in the forests and rivers of the community and like relics of a bygone era, she would find the stills, jars, jugs, and even cooking locations. These old bootlegger trail pickups were commonplace. Old habits die hard in the Panhandle, as Helen noted in recalling a quick and cheap method the elderly would employ to get intoxicated. A tradition that stems from long before prohibition.
“Older people would also take corn cobs and hide them in clocks and allow them to ferment. Then after a while, like four or five months they would eat them.”
Apparently, they would just chew on these old cobs, sometimes all day long, and it was like having a continual glass of shine.

People who lived along the rivers during prohibition lived very modest and simple lives. They hunted for duck and fished for mullet and jack fish. They grew cotton, corn, or peanuts and grew their own fresh vegetables. They traded for what they could, and although on occasion they had to sadly part with their hard-earned cash, as John Schafer explains, the only real cash crop in the area was moonshine.
Stills along the swampland were regularly moved and removed, and people in the know would wear special badges or pins to identify themselves. If you operated a still you needed a pin. If you were going to take a look at a still or wanted to make a purchase, you had to wear a pin.

“Everyone it seems wore a badge,” said Jabot Williams a local shiner
“If you didn’t have a badge they would pull a gun on you, and there were a lot of shootings.”

To avoid detection when purchasing ingredients, still operators got creative, going to every other store in a community to buy one item here and another there to avoid suspicion. However, this tactic seldom ever worked because shiners would buy ten pounds of sugar at a time at these stores. Agents would track the increases in sugar sales per grocery store to determine if there were shiners in the area. When approaching their stills from the main roads, shiners would take a different path each time to not wear down a trail. If a still is left in one place for too long, it will certainly attract the attention of wild animals. Wild hogs, the police discovered, love sugar mash. So, they learned to track their swine friend’s paths in the wilderness. Likewise, the shiners learned to also trust the movements of the wild hogs. If they heard a hog nearby, they knew the agents weren’t far behind.

New Book Rum Runners and Moonshiners of Old Florida

Travel back to one of the most colorful and captivating periods of Florida history, a time when the rebellious spirit of Old Florida challenged the federal government. When Prohibition ended legal production of spirits and ordinary citizens turned to a life of crime. Robert Buccellato the author of Florida Governors: The lasting Legacies and Jimmy Carter in Plains, shines light on a forgotten time of bootlegged liquors, corrupt rural sheriffs, crafty moonshiners, and panhandle traditions that back centuries.

Tallahassee Democrat Blog Post

Here gang here is my first blog post with the Tallahassee Democrat Community blog
hope you like it

http://blogs.tallahassee.com/community/2017/02/01/within-the-margin-of-error/

Whenever I close my eyes, my mind takes me to that boiling hot room in the summer of 1776, when those brilliant and flawed men signed a document. Creating in a moment of anger a new nation. I know you think I’m trying to be poetic or wistful. But, my wife will tell, I really am that big of a dork.

Some of my conservative friends take the textualist approach when reading our founding documents, seeking to uphold the original meaning of the United States Constitution and statutes. These are usually those who are strong supporters of the Second and Tenth Amendments, and  view federalism with distrust. They are also more likely to approve tax cuts for big businesses, go to church daily, and are almost sociologically unable to picture themselves voting Democratic.

Many of the Republicans I know think that government should get out of their pockets and that the free market can solve most of our basic economic needs.  In their eyes labor unions are lazy thugs who limit growth, and government regulations should be reduced to allow the nation’s business sector to flourish.

They of course forget however that such regulations were created to safeguard against new levels of corporate greed that periodically brought our entire nation to the brick of financial collapse. That it was labor unions that gave us paid family leave, the five day work week, and ended child labor. Things that they themselves benefit from.

These voters who champion individualism over community, are promoting a very attractive product. It really is, its the belief that you aren’t responsible. Global Warming, crime, poverty, low test scores; who cares, its not your problem. The only thing you have to worry about is your family, your street, and whats for dinner. Is my fridge full? Is my job safe? What do I care about the faceless untouchables of the world. Its tempting to think that your lifestyle, that your actions, and that your involvement doesn’t matter.

But, here’s the thing, its not enough to claim your faith and project your values, you must also strive to place yourself in others shoes. To allow their struggles to become your own. The founding fathers for their part lived lives of constant advocacy, setting an example for posterity, as well as trying to improve their own flawed characters.

I’m afraid these next four years are going to be trying times in this country. Our relationships, values, human comforts, and even our faith in ourselves will be fiercely tested. But, thats okay folks disagreement will never be as difficult to face as silence. We can not afford to cut off one another over a dumb facebook post, or the filling out of a ballot. Even something so important as a president’s rocky first few weeks is not reason enough to end friendships. It is always going to be important for me to remember that while I am a registered Democrat, most of the people I love are not. It’s not enough for me to look at America with rose colored glasses. I have to share that vision, and I have to also be open to other precious forms of patriotism.

This blog post is my opinion only and does not express the views of any other institution or individual not noted above.

Finding Dan McCarty

here is a link to my new book on Governor Daniel McCarty, Florida's 31st governor.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/151740553X/ref=crt_ewc_img_ld_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER


A thin layer of glass separated him from the crowd; the endless stream of people walking past his open casket, glancing down at his lifeless face. His body lay resting inches from the main rotunda stairway where just a handful of years earlier he could be seen running up in a mix of energy and youthful vigor that would make him Florida’s youngest speaker and Governor. South Florida’s first Governor, a progressive who was also a realist, McCarty was now stricken by a heart attack. His policies now at the hands of his nemesis, the arch conservative Senate President Charley Johns. But fate and happenstance stepped in and allowed his state to flourish none the less. Finding Dan McCarty is a story about two very different men on similar journeys of personal and professional discovery. On the one hand is an Historian reaching out to the last members of this distant moment in Florida’s history to understand the life of a deceased politician, long hidden under a cloak of mystery. The other is a fallen Governor, who left behind in his wake a lasting legacy of achievement. A story which paints vivid portraits of McCarty’s many enemies, allies, and the historic events that formed the Governor’s thrilling brief life. Written by Robert Buccellato author of the acclaimed "Jimmy Carter in Plains."

monty python and the holy grail artwork

There is something profoundly wonderful about the visual aspects of the second and most praised Monty Python movie "monty python and the holy grail."
It is this mild mix or blend of the current culture of the 1970s and the public's own imagery of the middle ages.
great credit must be given to Terry Gilliam and his efforts to transform the movie's artwork and cartoon into a tool to push the narrative along.

The start of a great cartoon in the middle of the second act which manages to bring all the parties back together after their respective sections.

Part of the film's cover

My personal favorite was this scene

OF COURSE ITS A GOOD IDEA!!!!! God my absolute favorite part of the film.

New Promotional images for Jimmy Carter in Plains

Cyrus Webb Radio show book review

Robert Buccellato shows with JIMMY CARTER IN PLAINS that anything is possible

Last year I had the pleasure of connecting with author Robert Buccellato and getting an advance copy of his book JIMMY CARTER IN PLAINS. As someone who loves history and getting to know the story behind the individuals we feel as though we know, I was excited for the chance to read it. I didn't know at the time, however, that it would take me not just into former President Carter's humble beginnings but how where he was from and what he accomplished became so personal for those around him.

What Robert has done through words and most importantly pictures is give us a snapshot into the life and the home of a man who believed great things were possible, no matter where you are from---and what he accomplished proved just that. This is not a political book. This is a book of hope and of appreciation that where we begin may not tell you how far you can go but it can be the starting point for everything in your life.

It wasn't just that Jimmy Carter became President. It was that he showed that anyone could do it if they believed, put in the work and had a vision for what was possible.

This is a book that will take you back into a former President's life but also remind us that moving forward that it all begins with a decision to do something great and then rallying others to believe it can happen for them as well.

Jimmy Carter in Plains: Robert Buccellato valdosta daily news article

“Jimmy Carter in Plains” is mostly a picture book filled with photographs of the 39th President and his family in their Georgia hometown.

Charles W. Plant provides the mother lode of photos. Robert Buccellato provides the words.

The book is part of the Images of Modern America series.

There are plenty of photographs of all of the Carters from the period when he was running for President of the United States: Brother Billy, mother Lillian, wife Rosalynn, etc.

The book reveals Carter’s small-town roots and his outsized ambition to move from the office of Georgia governor to the White House.

Ironically, as the book is filled with Plains photos and remains true to the title “Jimmy Carter in Plains,” the cover is a photograph of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter walking the streets of Washington, D.C., during the presidential inauguration.

With dozens of photos, the book is an interesting look, literally and figuratively, into the small town that fueled the rise of Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential campaign. The same town that serves as his home and inspiration today.

ANDY AND DON: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show

//Andy and Don// by Daniel de Vise is a revealing biography with the kind of sweeping narrative and premium placed on detail, that its impossible for it not to become a definitive telling. De vise's book attempts and largely succeeds as a behind the scenes account of the Andy Griffin Show and the complex lives of its stars. Most striking is the author’s access to the subject matter; he was after all the brother in law of Don Knotts and the vastness of his research. Every single living member of the cast was extensively interviewed as was countless friends and family. ||The book is a both an exploration into the surprisingly spirited personal lives of its two titled characters and their own personal friendship that helped create an American Television Classic. A perfect gift for any lover of American comedy or celebrity biographies of course, but also a wonderful read for any lover of Non fiction. Or anyone looking to take a leisurely stroll down memory lane and take a dip into the nostalgic waters of long ago.

Publisher Simon & Schuster
Imprint
Price (use $) $ 26.00
Page Count (type "pages" after number) 320 pages
Category N02 Biographies & Memoirs

Author Interview from the Front Porch - Jimmy Carter In Plains

Here is my interview with the blog "From the Front Porch" the official podcast from the great south Georgia book store "The Book Shelf" of Thomasville.
mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to download and subscribe to podcasts.
Description
Welcome to "From the Front Porch," a collection of conversations on books, small business, and life in the South. Each week, we share stories from the shop and happenings from our small town in South Georgia, all recorded from the comfort of Annie's front porch settled among the streets of downtown Thomasville. Follow along our adventures in store ownership, and eavesdrop into quirky conversations from our staff's day-to-day behind the counter. We'll introduce you to Thomasville's diverse cast of characters and share our favorite books of the season.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/from-the-front-porch/id906463114?mt=2

In defense of Fuller House

Okay so by now the wave of public opinion has washed all hope of extended glory away from this 1990's reboot. But here's the thing, all the negative reviews for "Fuller House" seem to be limited to its pilot episode. Now this is quite justified, and if I wasn't binge watching the show with my wife, I would have probably stopped right there. The most commonly referenced description was from the The AV Club’s review, saying that Fuller House felt like “a porn parody without the sex,” implying both bad dialogue and horrible characters.
Don't get me wrong, I work three different jobs and have a new born. When I want to relax, I want to relax. Sure I have re watched "Wolf Hall" more times than most. But for the most part I enjoy light heart-ed programs for my pre-bedtime moments of chill. That being said, I really disliked the first episode, and think its universal negative appraisal is very justified. But, heres the thing, the show gets better.. a whole lot better, surprisingly better as it goes on.
To the point that I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. Actually going to sleep later, denying myself the few hours of sleep I get while my young child isn't losing his head, just to watch this silly, stupid, and refreshingly amusing show. Look this ain't groundbreaking entertainment people and it never ever claimed to be. This was and remains simple predictable family television.



Plus there is the added bonus that the new characters on the show are used wisely. The new  male children in particular are fully formed characters that at their best moments steal whole sections of the show.  Middle Child Max, I would even go so far as to describe him as the show's best virtue.
And yes I get the comments made about Stephanie's appearance and I do find it a bit off-putting at first. yet, this too improves as the show moves forward, and her "taters" as my wife calls them get put away in less revealing outfits.



My point = This is a good show and one that you can easily binge. Plus I'm pretty sure it won't be going anywhere.

First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His – and the Nation’s – Prosperity

Da Capo Press, $25.99, 296 pages
Washington is a colossal figure in the annals of American History. An individual so mythical in his features and actions that it’s almost impossible to remember he was once an ordinary man, entirely divorced from the marble statues we see him as today or the fabled president immortalized in our currency. Edward Lengel’s book  First Entrepreneur attempts to awaken this forgotten dimension of Washington’s personal story.
Washington from the onset knew that his every action was setting a precedent; not only in how he handled himself in office, his determination to leave that office after two terms, and his goal to remain a neutral nation during foreign conflicts, but also in the way he handled his financial dealings and gains while in the presidency. Lengel’s Washington is presented as a figure who married for money and developed into a skilled social climber; someone who reluctantly took up the presidency, actually losing sleep the night he was elected. Washington was a disciplined executive and agribusiness man who innovated his nation’s economics as well as his own. Tragically, by creating both peace and prosperity for his nation, he denied himself both qualities of life.
Reviewed By Robert Buccellato

The Hobbit Animated Cartoon

A great adaptation for a 78 minute cartoon. The script received a Peabody award and the picture itself was nominated for a hugo award. It is usually regarded as the most acclaimed of Rankin/Bass non Christmas cartoons.


Orson Bean is wonderful in the title role and his interaction with the dwarves is a highlight. The battle scenes could be improved, this is the only area where the film's sequel Return of the king is superior. The score and the backgrounds are rightly praised for there quality, and lift the film towards classic status. Overall a great starter film for anyone interested in tolkien.




 The studio's regular producer Romeo Muller worked on a script, which is faithful to Tolkien's story; far more than Jackson's series. Besides Bean there is a great voice cast the wizard Gandalf, voiced by John Huston. Otto Preminger is the voice of the Elven king of Mirkwood, Richard Boone is Smaug, Hans Conreid is Thorin. Conreid as usual is outstanding and remains one of the best performance of a Dwarf ever,



The landscapes are so rich and so unlike anything that was being created by the mainstream animators of the day. When you look at some of the cutaways, you can actually get lost in the details.



Sure the folk music gets a bit old, yet some of the songs are surprisingly uplifting at points. There isn't too much violence in the battle scenes, mainly because there is a focus on Family friendly entertainment. But, it is a interesting character study on friendship and courage.
I highly recommend it.

The book, my event in plains, and to a smaller extent myself was featured in the Albany herald




heres the link
http://www.albanyherald.com/features/arts_entertainment/president-carter-revisits-campaign-for-presidents-day-in-plains/article_388b755c-010c-5871-a099-0faa39c4b7f6.html

the article name is President Carter revisits 1976 campaign for Presidents Day in Plains
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter will share experiences and sign books Monday

it covers the weekend celebration for the 40th anniversary of the 1976 election.

If I were a member of Congress

I thought it would be fun to write this little post after hearing so many horror stories about members of Congress.

To start I would on my first day propose a massive cut in member's office expenditures

I would also call on a congressional pay cut of nearly 80,000 dollars per year.

I would work or stay in my congressional office Monday to Friday and would go to ever single vote.

I would decline to attend state of the union addresses and give my place to a member of my staff

I would call on the body to adapt a new series of congressional districts do that they would resemble state senate districts and effectively make the body larger by about two hundred members.

Despite being a member of the Democratic Party, I would keep the option open to caucus noly if it agreed with my ideals

I would call on making it illegal to salvage from the wreck of the Titanic

For the name of the Ronald Reagan Highway in Florida to be changed to the Leroy Collins Highway.

I would propose the creation of  three new Presidential cabinet members, U.S. Department of Culture, U.S. Department of Global Development, and U.S. Department of Community Development

I would announce my intention to serve only one term and would decline any offers of donations or campaign contributions.

reintroduce the   Equal Rights Amendment