A Land Remembered Fans Are Everywhere! Read What Happened to Me Last Month.

It never ceases to amaze me how many fans dad’s book, A Land Remembered, has!

At the end of August, I spent a week visiting my mother in Florida. I go back as often as possible to check up on her health, meet with her caretakers and make sure everything is running smoothly. This time I also went to check up on some issues she is having with her 52-year-old house. Coming from cool, coastal California, the weather nearly knocked me down. The heat and humidity were almost unbearable, but I digress.

The day I flew back from Orlando to Denver to eventually to San Luis Obispo, I arrived in late afternoon, fairly jet lagged. Kim and I went with a friend, Alice, for a happy hour drink at the Cambria Pines Lodge to unwind. As we were sitting on the porch, a tall young lady walked by carrying a guitar case. I remarked, “Oh, the band is here. Where are you from?” She said, “Orlando,” and I said, “I was just there this morning.” We had an immediate connection over that. As I usually do when I meet Floridians in California, I asked, “Have you heard of a book called A Land Remembered?” She said, “Oh my God, by Patrick D. Smith? I’ve read it twice!”

Being as modest as I could be I said, “he’s my father,” and then we really had something to talk about.

Her name is Carly Jo Jackson. I discovered that she is an up and coming musician who has been on America’s Got Talent twice! (Here is a link to her performance on the show.) Such a nice, talented person.

She invited us to stick around for the show because a special guest was going to make an appearance. That guest turned out to be Michael McDonald, best known as the voice of the Doobie Brothers.

The third musician of their little trio was Chris Pelonis who also plays with and is the musical director of Jeff Bridges’ band, The Abiders. He wrote some music for his movie Crazy Heart and has played with Jackson Brown, among others. He is an amazing guitarist.

What a show they put on!

This whole meeting seemed destined to be when I learned that Chris Pelonis lives about 200 feet from my house in Cambria. (I really need to get to know my neighbors.) He was encouraging Michael McDonald to get a house up here in this neighborhood, too. I sure hope he does.

You can find Michael McDonald’s music on iTunes, as well as the songs and albums of Carly Jo Jackson and Chris Pelonis. I’ve added several of their songs to my playlist.

Well, our friend Alice was duly impressed. Kim and I have told her that this happens all the time in Florida, but also out here in California. We were at a local winery with her a few months ago and were talking with the young lady who worked there. She said she was from Florida and the same scene transpired, with her saying how much she loved the book and had in fact bought copies for her nephews and nieces. It happened at another winery nearby and on an airplane once, along with numerous other occasions.

A Land Remembered is a big deal in Florida. It has often been said that it should be required reading for everyone living in the state, that students should be required to read it in order to graduate and that it should be handed out as people cross the Florida state line. I’ve met many people who buy copies every year to hand out as Christmas presents, and then those people do the same thing. It spreads that way. I think they should just go ahead and make it the official book of Florida.

It is unique in that it is such a big hit in Florida, and authors well-known outside of Florida, Carl Hiaasen for example, revere the book (the characters in two of his novels are reading A Land Remembered) but it isn’t well known outside the state. I can’t think of another book that is so regional in popularity. A good story is a good story, no matter where it is set, right? I feel like Johnny Appleseed spreading the word as I present my program “Patrick Smith’s Florida Is A Land Remembered” to more and more snowbirds, who return to their home states in the spring and share it with others.

Recently, A Land Remembered has been acquired by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., one of the largest independent book publishers in North America. It will be distributed by their sister company, National Book Network (NBN) established in 1986 and one of the largest distributors of independent trade book publishers in the nation. The president told me that he had read it and loved it. He was very enthusiastic about it. I’m betting that with their marketing power A Land Remembered will reach a wider audience. I know in my heart that it will one day be made into a movie.

Thank you for being a fan of A Land Remembered. Can you think of ways to help spread the word? If so, please comment below.