We are delighted to share with you the story of how the Florida Vistas Book Club began. Our very own member and volunteer, Carol Ann Moritz, founded the club in 2016, and it has been thriving ever since. Each month, the club explores Florida’s incredible writers and rich history through books that span the state—from the Panhandle to Key West.

Carol Ann has written a heartfelt account of the club’s journey and the remarkable authors and stories we’ve discovered along the way. We encourage you to check it out and consider joining us for a future meeting!

The Florida Vistas Book Club

(by Carol Ann Moritz)

I have always loved museums! Growing up along the Eastern Seaboard, I was fortunate to visit so many of them—the Smithsonian in Washington, the Metropolitan in New York, the Guggenheim, and countless more. Later, while living in Tokyo, I had the unique honor of serving as one of the few English-speaking docents at the Edo-Tokyo Museum. So naturally, when I retired, I wanted to continue sharing history as a docent.

When the Cici and Hyatt Brown Gallery opened at MOAS, I found joy in guiding visitors through Florida’s vibrant visual history. Around the same time, I read Under the Dark Summer Sky by Vanessa Le Faye, a novel about the devastating 1935 hurricane in the Florida Keys. In the gallery, we had a painting of that very storm—and it sparked an idea. What if there were a book club that explored Florida through its writers, stories, and history—sometimes even connecting the readings to the art in our museums?

And so, the Florida Vistas Book Club was born in November 2016.

We weathered COVID together, and our loyal group found a wonderful new home at the Halifax Historical Museum. Today, the club continues to grow and thrive, celebrating Florida’s rich heritage through the voices of its incredible authors.

Many of our members were not born or raised in Florida, so they love what they are learning about their adopted home. A few are native Daytonians, and they always bring special insight to our discussions.

For me, I love what I have learned about three great Florida women: Mary McLeod Bethune, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Zora Neale Hurston. None of these women were born in Florida, but each made it her home and brought pride to the state. Not only have we read novels by Marjorie and Zora, but we have also studied biographies of both. For Mary, we have read her autobiography, a memoir of a young girl she influenced, and the brilliant First Ladies novel about her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. One of the book’s authors, Victoria Christopher Murray, even joined us on Zoom for discussion!

We’ve explored Florida’s history through books like The Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers. We’ve read about Florida’s railroads, the Seminole Wars (fact and fiction), the Everglades (fact and fiction), and World War II. We’ve traveled through the pages from St. Augustine to Tampa, Sarasota, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Ft. Myers, Tarpon Springs, DeLand, Tallahassee, and beyond.

Authors like Patrick Smith, Mark Lane, William Cuyler Hall, James Grippando, Randy White, John Grisham, Lauren Groff, Shana Smith, and Tim Robinson have all expanded our knowledge of and love for Florida. We’ve been fortunate to welcome authors to our discussions as well—including most recently Kathy Kelly, who captivated us with her true-crime work on serial killer Gerald Stano.

We’ve read about oranges, orchids, pineapples, and panthers. We’ve read about the Spanish, the British, the Indians, the Minorcans, and the Pirates of Florida. Everything we’ve read has overlapped, filled in, and added to the body of knowledge we have built about this remarkable state. To be honest, when we began in 2016, I thought we might run out of books on Florida—but it hasn’t happened yet. We just keep discovering more.

So if you’d like to expand your horizons and learn more about the place you call home—even if just in the winter—come join us! The Florida Vistas Book Club meets on the third Thursday of each month from 2:00 to 3:30 pm at the Halifax Historical Museum, 252 S. Beach Street, Daytona Beach.

The Book Club is included in your museum membership, so if you’re already a member, you’re all set! If not, we invite you to become a member and enjoy this wonderful experience.

Upcoming Selections:

• October – Mary McLeod Bethune: Her Life and Legacy by Nancy Ann Zrinyi Long (with the author in attendance)

We hope you’ll read along with us as we continue to celebrate Florida’s stories, past and present.