In the history of Sanibel and Captiva, countless women bucked the system to make their marks. In the early 1950s and '60s, Sarita Van Vlick and Zee Butler led the fight to preserve the island from unbridled growth and destruction. Helene Gralnick, in the early '80s, opened a small shop that became the foundation for Chico's Inc. And it was city manager Judy Zimomra who put into practice policies that helped Sanibel flourish after the devastation of Hurricane Charley. Author and local historian Jeri Magg compiles the stories and celebrates the achievements of the remarkable women who forever shaped Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

In the history of Sanibel and Captiva, countless women bucked the system to make their marks. In the early 1950s and '60s, Sarita Van Vlick and Zee Butler led the fight to preserve the island from unbridled growth and destruction. Helene Gralnick, in the early '80s, opened a small shop that became the foundation for Chico's Inc. And it was city manager Judy Zimomra who put into practice policies that helped Sanibel flourish after the devastation of Hurricane Charley. Author and local historian Jeri Magg compiles the stories and celebrates the achievements of the remarkable women who forever shaped Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

FORGOTTEN FLORIDA, tells the story of the Florida peninsula from the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819 up to the beginning of the Second Seminole War in 1835. The story is told from the perspective of well-documented men who took part in the development of the Gulf coastal areas from Pensacola to Key West and include Commodore David Porter, Colonel James Gadsden, Colonel George Brooke, Colonel Duncan Clinch, and Major Francis Dade as well as Captain William Bunce of the Aristocrat and Captain Fred Tresca of the Margaret Ann—both of whom sailed the Gulf coast from Key West to Pensacola and served to connect the various settlements. The book begins with the New York lawyer, Richard Hackley, who had been a consul in Cadiz, Spain, and had—purchased the entire west side of Florida from the Spanish Duke Alagon, who had received it as a gift from King Ferdinand of Spain before the peninsula had been given to the United States for the forgiveness of Ferdinand’s five-million-dollar debt to the U.S. Believing the purchase to be legal, Richard Hackley sends his son, Robert, to the Tampa Bay area to set up a homestead and open the land to settlement. Braving the pirate-ridden waters surrounding Key West and fall storms, Hackley arrives at Tampa Bay and builds a plantation home in November 1823. Heading to Pensacola for supplies in late December, Hackley returns to Tampa Bay to discover that—following the Treaty of Moultrie Creek—the U.S. Army had designated the same area in which he has built his home as a base on the western side of the new Seminole territory and has taken over his home and land for Cantonment Brooke. Action continues from the new base to the building of Tallahassee, the establishment of Key West, and the settlement of Sanibel Island—with the Hackley family attempting to settle and sell their land—during the Seminole unrest threatening the territory culminating with the massacre of Major Dade’s Companies on December 28, 1835, and the beginning of the second Seminole War.

Brief stories of the people and places of historical importance to the islands.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Once a week, an eclectic group of women comes together at a New York City yarn shop to work on their latest projects—and share the stories of their lives... At the center of Walker and Daughter is the shop’s owner, Georgia, who is overwhelmed with juggling the store and single-handedly raising her teenage daughter. Happy to escape the demands of her life, she looks forward to her Friday Night Knitting Club, where she and her friends—Anita, Peri, Darwin, Lucie, and KC—exchange knitting tips, jokes, and their deepest secrets. But when the man who once broke Georgia’s heart suddenly shows up, demanding a role in their daughter’s life, her world is shattered. Luckily, Georgia’s friends are there for encouragement, sharing their own tales of intimacy, heartbreak, and miracle-making. And when the unthinkable happens, these women will discover that what they’ve created isn’t just a knitting club: it’s a sisterhood.

Doc Ford has his share of secrets. One of them has returned with a vengeance in this deadly New York Times bestseller from Randy Wayne White. While trying to solve one of Florida’s most profound mysteries, Doc Ford is the target of a murder attempt by someone who wants to make it look like an accident. Or is the target actually his friend Tomlinson? Whatever the answer, the liveaboards and fishing guides at Dinkin’s Bay on Sanibel Island are becoming increasingly nervous—and wary—after a plane crash and other near-death incidents make it apparent that Ford and Tomlinson are dangerous companions. What their small family of friends doesn’t know is that their secret pasts make it impossible for them to seek help from the law. There is an assassin on the loose, and it is up to Doc and Tomlinson to find a killer before the grisly job is done.