Hey all you old Gainesville hands. Who remembers Chambergate and the fight against the Cement Plant?
Well former Gainesville Sun and Florida Times Union reporter Larry Schnell does, and he put them and other juicy memories into an entertaining novel, The Year of the Gator.
The novel reads like Carl Hiassen, but set in Gainesville and with many characters who strikingly resemble actual people we all know who played roles in that period. UF plays an important part in the book, and it opens with a scene in the Alachua County Jail. It is a “satiric tale as the author unmasks the forces in the game of economic development.”
The book is new and available at Wild Iris Books, which is open Fridays from 1-5pm and Saturdays from 1-6pm. See their Facebook page for upcoming expanded hours.
One more reason to go support Erica and Wild Iris Books.