One Book revisits inaugural book for 2024 season
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SARAH CAVACINI/Palatka Daily News – Mischa Johns, the archivist of the Putnam County Library System, holds a copy of Patrick D. Smith’s book, “A Land Remembered,” which has been chosen as this year’s One Book One Putnam selection.
Putnam County’s annual book club is inviting readers on a journey through Florida’s thick brush to get a taste of old Florida.
One Book One Putnam, a county-wide reading initiative, kicks off its two-month season at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Palatka Golf Club, 1715 Moseley Ave. in Palatka. The One Book One Putnam Committee selected “A Land Remembered” by Patrick D. Smith as the 2024 read.
One Book member Bob Lee said “A Land Remembered” was the first book the program featured when the club was first organized two decades ago.
“We’re coming up around on our 20th (anniversary) and so the committee just thought, ‘Well, you know, why don’t we complete the circle?’” Lee said. “It’s been 20 years since we talked about it. There’s a lot of folks who have come of reading age into adulthood, and perhaps they haven’t heard about it.”
“A Land Remembered” was written in 1984, and has been a recommended classroom book for decades, according to One Book organizers. Lee said he’s read the book twice.
Putnam County Library System Archivist Mischa Johns said she’s also read the book and plans to give a presentation at the kickoff about what old Florida looked like for Putnam County.
While the book is about a fictional family, much of the novel’s details of 19th and 20th century Florida are accurate, Lee and Johns said. The book takes place in Florida from 1863 to 1968.
Lee said he grew up on a small Florida ranch and reading the book made him think of his experiences in his youth.
“I like the old Florida,” Lee said. “A lot of people really don’t appreciate what old Florida was like, but if they want to get a flavor of it, a taste of it, they can read this book.”
Johns is working to outline presentations that will compare what was going on in Putnam County during some of the timelines in the book. She will have a stationary display about Putnam history and speak during the event.
“(Life) was vastly different in every city,” Johns said. “In the late 1800s, the wealthy people were coming here for vacation, and then suddenly there were more normal people. And so the really wealthy people were like, ‘We’re kind of tired of rubbing elbows with the commoners.’ And they established these places like Melrose.”
The smaller municipalities of Putnam County became vacation destinations, Johns said.
There will also be displays about native plants, cowboys and mosquitos, among other subjects, at the kickoff, Lee said. Mosquitos play a big role in the novel, he added.
Aside from the One Book season premiere, people can share their thoughts about the book during discussions throughout February at the county libraries.
Book discussions will take place at:
– Interlachen Library, 133 County Road 315, on Feb. 8 at 1:30 p.m.
– Crescent City Library, 610 Summit St., on Feb. 14 at noon.
– Melrose Library, 312 Wynnwood Ave., on Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.
– Palatka headquarters, 601 College Road, on Feb. 19 at 6 p.m.
– Bostwick Library, 125 Tillman St. in Palatka, on Feb. 22 at 4 p.m.
People who do not have the book can check one out at any Putnam County library, Johns said. The Palatka site has available for checkout student copies, an audio copy and a graphic novel version, which came out in 2018.
Officials from the bookstore Needful Things, 908 St. Johns Ave. in Palatka, will be at the event kickoff if people want to purchase “A Land Remembered.” The owner will have other books by Smith available for purchase, Lee said.
