Local Authors Write About the Fort Myers Sanibel Area

It seems no matter what the genre, the sea and its gifts provide the theme, the plot or the setting for authors in these parts. And no wonder. As the cares of the modern world wash away with each tide, the writing soul is set free to discover new worlds.

Life Lessons from the Sea

Writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh gave a gift to all seeking introspection and a simpler life when she wrote “Gift from the Sea.” In her small tome, Lindbergh, the wife of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh and a pilot herself, explores the serenity of Captiva Island's seaside setting and its effects on her psyche.

The book, first published in 1955, is carried in most area bookstores and gift shops and has been treasured by many for its honest approach to a woman's journey to self-discovery and self-expression. And for its insightful descriptions of everyday occurrences on the islands' shores:

"But his shell – it is simple; it is bare, it is beautiful. Small, only the size of my thumb, its architecture is perfect, down to the finest detail. Its shape, swelling like a pear in the center, winds in a gentle spiral to the pointed apex. Its color, dull gold, is whitened by a wash of salt from the sea. Each whorl, each faint knob, each criss-cross vein in its egg-shell texture, is as clearly defined as on the day of creation. My eye follows with delight the outer circumference of that diminutive winding staircase up which this tenant used to travel."

Modern Mysteries

The area's most celebrated contemporary writer is Randy Wayne White, whose best-selling Doc Ford mystery novels use the area's natural beauty to draw readers into the sleuth's island world. In such titles as “Sanibel Flats,” “Captiva” and “Ten Thousand Islands,” White brings the area's history and ecology – not to mention bang-up mysteries – to his readers.

While there's no record of Mary Roberts Rinehart, a mystery novelist who helped popularize the genre in the early 20th century, ever writing at her son's home on Cabbage Key, famed Florida author John D. MacDonald often visited and, it's rumored, wrote some of his hard-boiled mysteries there.

History & Locale

Peter Wake is the creation of writer Robert Macomber, an avid sailor whose historical novels chart Wake's 35-year career in the U.S. Navy during and after the Civil War. The first of eight books in a series, “At the Edge of Honor” received the Patrick D. Smith Award for Florida Fiction by the Florida Historical Society. His later books are also available in bookstores.

Realtor Charles Sobczak has written “Way Under Contract, A Florida Story” and “Six Mornings on Sanibel,” both set on Sanibel Island (or a veiled version of it).

John D. Mills, a local attorney, explores timely issues in his book “The Manatee Murders,” set on Pine Island, which illuminates the controversy brewing between the Save the Manatee Foundation and the local boating community.

Kid-Friendly Favorites

James Kaserman has written two books on the same subject. “Gasparilla, Pirate Genius” is a historical novel based on the legend of José Gaspar, for whom Gasparilla Island is named. With his wife, Sarah, he has adapted the same swashbuckling material for “The Legend of Gasparilla, A Tale for All Ages,” which won the Florida Publisher's Association's 2003 President's Book Award for Best Florida Title.