Regional histories

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, September 2016; written by Lisa Pearson.

We Alaskans are accustomed to thinking of our state as having a history full of odd characters and unusual events. This is definitely true, but the United States is a big country and it turns out that we don’t own the patent on quirkiness. If you’ve read enough Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry, you might well think that honor belongs to Florida. In his new book “Oh, Florida: how America’s weirdest state influences the rest of the country”, author and journalist Craig Pittman proves the point by presenting numerous examples of Floridian excess.

Pittman was born and raised in the Sunshine State, and has worked as a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times for almost two decades. A frequent blogger and Tweeter of funny Florida trivia, his book is an interesting mix of history, odd news stories, and personal anecdotes of growing up in Florida “BW” (Before Walt, as in Walt Disney). One of his statistics that I found most interesting was that Florida has the second-highest proportion of non-native residents (which begs the question, does life in Florida make people weird, or do they bring the weird with them in their luggage?). He also points out the dichotomy of living in a place that is so heavily dependent on tourism, yet whose first state motto was “Let Us Alone”.

Rather than protesting against the stereotypical images of Florida - hurricanes, sinkholes, gated communities, early bird specials and organized crime - Pittman actually documents their common occurrence with news stories that he has collected over the years. In fact, it’s best to read “Oh, Florida” one chapter at a time, because there are so many odd incidents that it takes a little bit to absorb. Pittman’s book does not diminish Alaska’s bragging rights to the bizarre, but it does make the important point in this divisive election year that we are all, indeed, created equally weird.

If you are interested in reading other books that document regional history, but with a more conventional approach, we have quite a selection. You could learn more about the Midwest with histories of Chicago, Detroit, and the Mississippi River. Start with “Nothin’ But Blue Skies: the heyday, hard times, and hopes of America’s industrial heartland” by Edward McClelland. Get a feel for life in New England with “Mud Season” by Ellen Stimson as she chronicles her experiences moving her family to a Vermont farm. “The Maine Reader: the Down East experience from 1614 to the present” does an excellent job showcasing the traditional Yankee character.

New York City is one of the best-represented locales in our collection. With almost 400 years of being at the center of colonial trade, Revolutionary war, financing the industrial revolution and westward expansion, supplying the troops in Europe during two World Wars, and catalyzing the global expansion of American culture, it’s no wonder that the city never sleeps. Two books on our New shelves deal with just one facet in New York’s personality. “St. Marks is dead: the many lives of America's hippest street” by Ada Calhoun, and “Unforgotten New York: legendary spaces of the twentieth-century avant-garde” by David Brun-Lambert both showcase the crazy, funky, anything-goes spirit of the city and the artists that are drawn there. But, according to Craig Pittman, NYC still can’t hold a candle to what goes on in Florida.