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Special Collection: Florida Authors

A special collection dedicated to Florida's authors and more!

Literary Landmarks of Florida

Information courtesy of the American Library Association and Literary Landmarks of Florida

  • 1988 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings house, Cross Creek, Fla. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings lived in this house and farm in the 1930s when she wrote the Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Yearling (1938). Dedicated 1988. Partners: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society and the Florida Center for the Book.
  • 1988 John D. MacDonald, Slip F18, Bahia Mar, anchorage of Travis McGee's Busted Flush, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The very first literary landmark to be dedicated, home of Travis McGee, fictional hero & salvage consultant, created by John D. MacDonald, Author (1916-1986). Dedicated February 21, 1987.
  • 1989 Stephen Crane house, Daytona Beach, Fla. Lilian Place was built in 1884 and on December 31, 1896 Stephen Crane recuperated in the house after his boat "Commodore" sank off the shoreline of Daytona Beach. Crane’s ghost has supposedly been sighted in the house, as well as a woman dressed in white, laughing children, and a mischievous ghost named Lucille. Crane is famous for his Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895). Dedicated 1989. Partners: Friends of the Volusia County Library Center.
  • 1989 Walter Farley Wing - Venice Area Public Library, Venice, Fla. Walter Farley, author of Black Stalion (1941), and his wife Rosemary were among the founders of the Friends of the Venice Public Library. Dedicated 1989.
  • 1992 Ernest Lyons’ house, Stuart, Fla. Built in 1890 and home to Ernest Lyons from 1937 until his death in 1990. Ernest Lyons was the author of The Last Cracker Barrel (1975) and My Florida (1969). Dedicated May 23, 1992. Partners: Florida Center for the Book.
  • 1993 Elizabeth Bishop’s Key West house, Key West, Fla. Poet Elizabeth Bishop was one of many artists to settle in Key West. Dedicated 1993.
  • 1994 Isaac Bashevis Singer apartment house, Miami, Fla. Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Warsaw native and author of “Yentl the Yeshiva Boy” (1962) passed away in a nursing home in Miami. He wrote his stories in Yiddish and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978. Dedicated 1994. Partners: Florida Center for the Book.
  • 1994 Harry S. Truman Little White House, Key West, Key West, Fla. Truman made 11 trips to Little White House from 1946-1952, which have been recorded in the “Harry S. Truman West Key Logs.” Dedicated 1994.
  • 1994 San Carlos Institute, Key West - Jose Marti, Key West, Fla. The San Carlos was founded by Cuban exiles in 1871 and currently serves as a museum, library, art gallery, theater, and school. Here José Martí united the exile community in 1892 to campaign for Cuba's independence against spain. Dedicated 1994.
  • 1995 Robert Frost’s Key West cottage, Key West, Fla. Poet Robert Frost spent his winters in the cottage behind the house from 1945-1961. In 2010 the museum was sold to a private owner due to the high upkeep cost. Dedicated 1995.
  • 1995 Laura Riding Jackson cottage, Vero Beach, Fla. Home of poet Laura (Riding) Jackson from 1943-1991. Dedicated January 22, 1995. Partners: Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation.
  • 1995 John Hersey’s Key West house, Key West, Fla. John Hersey’s house is one of many stand alone cottages located in the 1976 Windsor Lane Compound, where writers used to reside during the winter. Former neighbors of John Hersey - author of A Bell for Adano (1944) and Hiroshima (1946), included Richard Wilbur - Pulitzer Prize winner and poet, John Ciardi "Divine Comedy" (1977) translator, and Ralph Ellison - The Invisible Man (1952). The house is now privately owned property. Dedicated January 15, 1995.
  • 1996 Wallace Stevens’ Key West home, Key West, Fla. Casa Marina Resort serves as the serves as Wallace Stevens' Florida literary landmark. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his Collected Poems in 1955. Dedicated 1996.
  • 2003 Beluthahatchee - Woody Guthrie, Fruit Cove, Fla. Where Woody Guthrie wrote the final draft of his autobiographical Seeds of Man (1976) and the ballad "Beluthahatchee Bill". Dedicated: 2003.
  • 2004 Matilda Moseley Home - Zora Neale Hurston, Eatonville, Fla. Site of the home of the childhood best friend of Zora Neale Hurston who, throughout her writings, celebrates the rich culture of Eatonville as representative of rural, southern African-descended folks. Dedicated June 28, 2004. Partners: Black Caucus of the American Library Association.
  • 2004 Tennessee William’s Key West house, Key West, Fla. Residence of playwright Tennessee Williams from 1949 to 1983. Dedicated January 16, 2004. Partners: Florida Center for the Book
  • 2005 Evergreen Cemetery - Randolph Caldecott, St. Augustine, Fla. Burial site of Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886). The Caldecott Medal, commissioned in 1938, was named in honor of English illustrator, artist, and sculptor Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, American Library Association, to the artist of the “most distinguished” American picture book for children published during the preceding year. Dedicated March 20, 2005. Partners: Friends of the Library of St. Johns County, Inc. and Randolph Caldecott Society of America.
  • 2010 Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum , Key West, Fla. Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote here from 1931-1939. The Literary Landmark dedication was on the occasion of Key West's "One Island, One Book" event, when the citizens of Key West celelbrated Hemingway's novel To Have and Have Not. Dedicated March 14, 2010. Partners: Monroe County Public Library of Key West, FL; Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum; Friends of The Monroe County Public Library of Key West, Florida, Inc.
  • 2013 Syd Hoff home, Miami Beach, Fla. Cartoonist and children's book author Syd Hoff (1912-2004) lived at this home from 1957 to 2001. Hoff published more than 500 cartoons in The New Yorker, and is the author of many HarperCollins I CAN READ books, including Danny the Dinosaur and Sammy the Seal. Partner: Florida Center for the Book. Dedicated February 10, 2013.
  • 2013 Beluthahatchee - Stetson Kennedy, Fruit Cove, Fla. Author and award-winning journalist and activist Stetson Kennedy (1916-2011) created Lake Beluthahatchee and its surrounding wildlife sanctuary. It was there Kennedy wrote portions or complete manuscripts of his books and articles. Dedicated November 16, 2013. Partner: Florida Center for the Book.
  • 2016 Key West Public Library - David A. Kaufelt, Key West, Fla. David A. Kaufelt (1939-2014), founder of the Key West Literary Seminar, led the first seminar at the library in 1983. He also completed the research for his novel American Tropic (1986) at the library. In addition, it was a meeting point for his popular Literary Walking Tour, which introduced visitors to the rich life of letters in the island city. Dedicated February 6, 2016. Partners: Key West Literary Seminar, Friends of the Key West Library, Monroe County Public Library.