Patrick D. Smith 1927
Major Works
- The River Is Home 1953
- The Beginning 1967
- Forever Island 1973
- Angel City 1978
- In Search of the Russian Bear
1983 (non-fiction
- A Land Remembered 1984 (Winner of the Florida
Historical Society's Tebeau Prize: Most Outstanding
Florida Historical Novel)
- Allapattah 1987
- The Last Ride 2000 (with Glen
"Pee Wee" Mercer, champion bull rider)
- The Seas That Mourn 2003
- Patrick Smith's Florida, A Sense of Place
(DVD) 2005
- A White Deer And Other Stories 2007
----------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Smith:
A Biography
By Tasha Hines (SHS)
Patrick Davis Smith was born on October 8, 1927, to John D.,
Sr. and Nora (Eubanks) Smith in Mendenhall, Mississippi.
On August 1, 1948, he married Iris Doty and later had a son
named Patrick D. Smith, Jr. (Locher 508).
After attending college at Hinds Junior College, where he received
an A.A., at age seventeen, he went on to attend the University
of Mississippi, known as Ole Miss, in Oxford, Mississippi
(Locher 508). He received a B.A., in 1947 and a M.A.,
in English from the University of Mississippi in 1959 (Abbott
776).
Between 1948 and 1956, Patrick was the owner of a car dealership
and cattle ranch in Mendenhall, Mississippi. He was director
of public relations at Hinds Junior College in Raymond,
Mississippi, between the ages of thirty-two and thirty-five.
He was also director of public relations at Sperry Rand Corporation,
Vickers Division, in Jackson, Mississippi, between 1956 and
1958. Smith became director of college relations at Brevard
Community college in Cocoa, Florida in 1966. He served
in North Africa and Europe in 1945 as a United States Merchant
Marine (Locher 508).
Throughout his life, Smith has been a member of
many organizations. He has been a member of the following
organizations: American Association of Community and Junior
Colleges, American College Public Relations Association, Council
for the Advancement and Support of Education, Authors Guild
of American, Authors League of America, Florida Association
of Community Colleges, and Cape Canaveral Public Relations Association
(Locher 508). Patrick served as a member on the professional
staff of the annual Rollins College Writers' Conference in Winter
Park (Abbott 776).
Smith was named Mississippi's Outstanding Man of the year and
was also awarded a Distinguished Service Award from Mississippi
Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1977, Smith received a
high honor of recognition as Alumnus of the Year at Hinds Junior
College (Lloyd 414).
Smith has completed several novels . Seven of his novels
are as follows: Forever Island, The River Is Home,
Angel City, A Land Remembered, The Beginning (about
the Civil Rights movement) and Allapattah
(Locher 508, Abbott 776). His novels, Forever Island
and Angel City were mentioned for the
Pulitzer Prize award. The River Is Home,
Patrick's first novel, won two outstanding awards. The
awards he received were the Gold Medal of the International
Mark Twain Society and the Canadian Fiction Award. Published
in nineteen foreign countries, Forever Island was
also included in one volume of Reader's Digest Condensed
Books. Smith's novels have been so interesting
that Angel City has been made into a feature-length
film for CBS. To write it, Smith purchased used clothes
and went to work as a migrant worker. When the movie was
made, he had a bit part as the seller of okra. In
Search of the Russian Bear is a book about
Smith's experiences in the Soviet Union in 1983 (Abbott 776).
 In
1966 Patrick D. Smith moved to Florida where he served as director
of college relations at Brevard Community College in Cocoa,
Florida. He retired in 1988 but still speaks to
groups about how literature can better the world. In addition
to the state of Mississippi claiming him as a native son, the
state of Florida claims him as one of its most famous authors.
He was inducted into the 1999 Florida Artists Hall of Fame,
only the second author to be inducted during his lifetime.
Four of his novels are set in Florida. His novel, A
Land Remembered, won the Florida Historical Society's
Tebeau Prize as the Most Outstanding Florida Historical Novel.
It is a story of the MacIvey family who lived in Florida from
1858 to 1965. Today Smith live on Merritt Island, Florida,
and in his spare time, he enjoys boating, gardening, and exploring
wildlife. (Locher 508)
In September, 2000, Smith's
most recent book, written with and about Glen "Pee Wee" Mercer,
a former champion bull rider, was published by Sea Bird Publishing,
Inc. Mercer was paralyzed from the neck down in
a disastrous accident while dismounting from a successfully
ridden bull in 1995. The book is called The Last
Ride. Proceeds from the book help Mercer to hire
several nurses and give his mother, who is his caregiver, a
break.
At the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Florida Historical
Society Patrick D. Smith was named the "Greatest Living Floridian"
Although Smith accepted the honor, he refused the $5,000 prize.
The society will use the money to endow the "Patrick D. Smith
Award for Florida Literature." On August 1st, 2006, the causeway
between Merritt Island, going toward Cocoa Beach, Florida as
far as the Canaveral Hospital, was dedicated the Patrick D.
Smith Causeway.
RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timeline
1927--born in Mendenhall, Mississippi
1944--received A.A. from Hinds Junior College
1945--U.S. Merchant and Marine
1947--received B.A. from University of Mississippi
1947-55--wrote for two Jackson newspapers
1948--married Iris Doty
1948-56--owner of car dealership and cattle ranch
1953--published The River Is Home
1956-58--director of public relations at Sperry Rand
Corp.
1956--named Mississippi's Outstanding Young Man of
the year
1959--received M.A. from University of Mississippi
1959-62--teacher at Hinds Junior College
1962-66--director of public relations at the University
of Mississippi
1966--moved to Florida
1966--director of public relations at Brevard Community
College
1967--published The Beginning
1968--district director of American College
Public Relations Association
1973--published Forever Island
1976--chairman of Cape Canaveral Public Relations Association
1977--named Alumnus of the Year of Hinds Junior College,
Mississippi
1978--published Angel City
1983--traveled to the Soviet Union
1984--published A Land Remembered
1987--published Allapattah
1988--Retired
1990--Florida PBS-TV released a documentary, Visions
of Nature: Patrick Smith's Florida, which portrays
his work as a writer
1995- Received The Order of the South
from the Southern Academy of Letters, Arts, and Sciences
1999--Inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
2000--Published The Last Ride with Glen
"Pee Wee" Mercer
2002--Named Greatest Living Floridian
by Florida Historical Society. Gives $5000 prize to fund for
new writers
2003--Published The Seas that
Mourn
2005--Patrick Smith's Florida,
A Sense of Place (DVD)
2006--Florida causeway to Merritt Island,
Florida, dedicated the Patrick D. Smith Causeway.
2007-- A White Deer and Other
Stories
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Review of Forever
Island 
by Tasha Hines (SHS)
This novel is about a Mikasuki Seminole who lives in a swamp
by the Florida Everglades. The name of the place where
he lives is the Big Cypress Swamp. Charlie Jumper is eighty-six
years old, five foot nine, tanned skin from the Florida sun,
and his black hair is now covered by white strings of hair.
His wife's name is Lillie Tiger and his youngest son's name
is Billie Joe. Billie Joe is married to Watsie Cypress.
In this novel, Charlie is so used to the old ways of living
that he can't adjust to the new ways. He is told
that he has to move because someone has bought the swamp and
wants Charlie and his family off the land. Charlie decides
that he will not surrender the land without a fight His
best friend is also involved with the fight for keeping the
swamp. His best friend is killed trying to destroy the
equipment of the construction workers. After Charlie realizes
that he doesn't have a chance to over-power the white
man, he leaves his family and goes into the swamp. He
is looking for the island that is known in Seminole legends
as Forever Island.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related
Websites 
A
Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith is a novel that
covers 110 years of Florida history, 1863 - 1968, as seen through
the eyes of several generations of a pioneer family.
Lesson plans are available here.
Official
Patrick D. Smith web site
More
information about A Land Remembered
-------------------------------------------------------------
Bibliography
Abbott, Dorothy ed. Reflections of Childhood and Youth:
Mississippi Writers. Vol. I. Jackson: University
Press of Mississippi; 1985. 776
Lloyd, James B. "Patrick D. Smith." Lives of Mississippi
Authors, 1817-1967. Jackson, Mississippi University
Press of Mississippi, 1981. 414
Locher, Frances Carol ed. Contemporary Authors
Vol. 77-80. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company;
1979. 508
Smith, Patrick Davis. Forever Island.
New York, New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc, 1973.
---------------------------------------------------------
|
