Florida Books

Urban's Way: Urban Meyer, the Florida Gators, and His Plan to Win

Buddy Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

“Members of the ‘Gator Nation’ are going to burn the midnight oil turning these pages because Buddy Martin will be boldly taking them where no Florida fan has gone before.”
---Tony Barnhart, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/CBS

To write the Urban Meyer story, Buddy Martin enjoyed a vantage point rarely afforded authors in constructing the authorized biography of the University of Florida’s high-profile coach. Martin takes the reader where no other journalist has gone before as he reports the most intimate details about one of the nation’s top college football programs and its coach.

During the show-and-tell story of the 2007 Gator season, Martin listened on the headsets in the coaching booth, monitored Meyer’s locker room speeches, conducted in-depth interviews with assistant coaches and support personnel, ran on Florida Field with the team prior to the Gators game against Tennessee, and gave Tim Tebow his first Heisman Trophy quiz while having dinner together just weeks before he was named as the winner.

Urban’s Way, however, is much more than a look at the 2007 season. Martin dug deep into Meyer’s background, from his growing-up days in Ashtabula, Ohio, under the strict guidance of his father; to his tumultuous days as a young assistant when he almost quit the profession; to the dynamics of his close relationship with mentors Earle Bruce and Lou Holtz; to the ultimate prize as coach of the 2006 national champion Florida Gators. Readers learn how Meyer was encouraged by his father and his wife, Shelley, to keep going; how his career took off at Notre Dame and then as a head coach at Bowling Green and Utah; how the Falcons came together after their historic “Black Wednesday”; and the impressive manner in which he championed diversity among players in Salt Lake City. Florida fans will be surprised to discover how close Meyer came to choosing the Notre Dame job over the one in Gainesville, despite his yearnings as a small boy to someday coach the Fighting Irish. Through his intense research---and talks with Urban himself---Buddy Martin provides an amazingly detailed look into how a football coach is made.

This is not simply the authorized biography of one of college football’s top coaches; Buddy Martin also gives fans the inside scoop on the 2006 National Championship. In the chapter “The Joy of Winning It All,” players and coaches share their stories of that championship season that produced the middle leg of the “Gator Slam,” leading to the good life on the so-called Cul de Sac of Champions, which Urban shares with Gators basketball coach Billy Donovan.

It is rare that fans get inside the head of a top coach, but here full disclosure is offered about Urban’s personal faith, his Plan to Win, and the inner workings of the Spread offense. Readers are also treated to Meyer’s own breakdown of the national championship tape, including his Six Key Plays of the game.

Buddy Martin shines a bright light on Urban Meyer, the Florida Gators, and one of the top programs in the country. This is a must-have for Florida Gator football fans and one of the most insightful books ever written on college football.

101 Things You Never Knew About Walt Disney World: An Unauthorized Look at Tributes, Little Touches, And Inside Jokes

Kevin Yee

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Think you know Walt Disney World?

Do you know the backstory of Dinoland U.S.A. that unifies the entire land? Do you know how the former attraction named Dreamflight is commemorated in today's Magic Kingdom? Do you know how Ellen's Energy Adventure mentions the ride which preceded it? Do you know where the references to Horizons and World of Motion are? Do you know how Disney's Animal Kingdom pays tribute to the land it planned but never created? Do you know where the Hidden Kermit is located? Do you know how the four theme parks honor the years in which they opened?

You have probably heard a few "interesting facts" about Walt Disney World over the years. Perhaps you've heard that the windows on the second story of the buildings on Main Street honor individuals of note in WDW history? Or that the company plane Walt used to survey the eventual WDW property from the air now lives at the studios park? It's all true... but these are only two of the interesting facts pointed out in "101 Things You Never Knew About Walt Disney World." And those are only two of the best-known examples. Many of these stories deal with much more obscure, yet equally interesting, pieces of history of the theme parks. You haven't heard all these stories before!

University of Florida Football Vault

Norm Carlson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

This is a simply AMAZING collection of Gator history! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

The picture here does not even begin to do this volume justice. This is a beautiful book that comes in a sturdy and attractive box. It's as much scrapbook as it is history book. Inside the book, in addition to the wonderful photographs and narrative account of the history of Gator football, there are many, many artifacts that come in little pockets on almost every page. There is a replica of the ticket to the national championship game, a copy of Steve Spurrier's handwritten resignation announcement, a copy of the actual stats sheet from the 1966 Auburn game that secured the Heisman for Spurrier, a felt pennant from the 1950s, a copy of the card that Urban Meyer had each player carry with him during the days leading up to the 2006 championship game....the list goes on and on. Each page has a new surprise. Norm Carlson, longtime SID and Gator historian, has done every Gator fan a huge favor by putting together this remarkable "vault" of Gator memorabilia.

Editorial Review:

The University of Florida Football Vault™ The History of the Florida Gators contains explosive action photos and dynamic text covering the history of the UF football program, but you will also be able to see and touch collectibles such as a 1915 booklet of songs and cheers, a 1950s pennant, classic game tickets and Steve Spurrier's handwritten passing fundamentals. This book also contains reproductions of valuable Gator memorabilia, including old newspaper clippings, postcards, stickers and vintage photographs. Florida fans young and old will thoroughly enjoy the University of Florida Football Vault™. Hardcover with slipcase.

Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas

Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

When you want to know what you've been watching (or what was watching you)! 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a reef fish identification book. This sounds obvious, but that really is the focus here. It's not a book to teach you about fish behavior, biogeography, community ecology, or population trends. Author, diver, captain, photographer, and attorney (!) Paul Humann took most of the 670 photographs in this book, a real accomplishment for any diver, since the result of a blurred or indistinct photograph of a fish is to... go get another.

The organization of this ID book is by fish shape. He's got 12 "identification groups":

- disks and ovals (colorful)
- silvery
- sloping head and tapered body
- small ovals
- heavy body and large lips
- swim with pectoral fins, and with obvious scales
- reddish and big eyes
- small, elongated bottom-dwellers
- old-shaped bottom dwellers
- odd-shaped swimmers
- eels
- sharks and rays

Any fish watcher would see the "logic" of this organization, although it could make some ichthyologists squirm with these sets of artificial groupings.

The book is spiral-bound so that the pages, when opened, stay open. And the clay content in the paper makes it more resistant to water dripping from your wetsuit or your hair. Just make sure you wipe it off, pronto.

Now the photos... They are very high quality, and Humann is to be commended for taking, or selecting from other photographers, pictures that really pull out the details of the various fish . For example, the Sergeant Major has the delicate yellow along the base of its dorsal fin, and those frogfish must be viewed in both a camouflaged condition and in a setting where they are contrasted with the background.

Any amateur photographer will soon discover the difficulty in getting a full, close-up and lateral view of a fish. They tend to swim away from you as you get close, giving you a great view of the tail sweeping away. These photos are the result of a truly amazing amount of patience.

In an appendix, he throws in some sea turtles and dolphins or good measure, as well as a checklist for keeping track of the reader's sightings.

My ocean diving has all been in the Pacific, and it was interesting seeing species related to my own "friends." If I get the opportunity to dive in Florida, the Caribbean, or the Bahamas, this will be the book I throw in my dive bag... in a zip-lock bag, of course.

Editorial Review:

The standard fish ID reference for underwater naturalists and marine scientists since 1989 just got better! This enlarged 3rd edition has grown by 20 percent including the addition of over 100 exciting new fish species. The scientifically updated text now boasts 825 classic marine life photographs of 600 common and rare reef fish species. The easy to use, quick-reference format designed for divers makes it a snap to identify the myriad fishes that inhabit the waters of Florida, the Caribbean, Bahamas and now Brazil! It features a new durable, cloth-stitched flexi-binding that folds flat for easy use and water-repellent plastic covers.

Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World

David Koenig

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The hard facts behind creating the ultimate fantasy land 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

David Koenig wrote Mouse Tales. Realityland continues his detailed `behind the ears look,' but this time he looks at Walt Disney World (WDW) in Florida rather than at the original Disneyland in California. David's introduction surprised me: `I thought I knew most of the `secrets' of the Disney theme park," he wrote. I was surprised because Disneyland and WDW are radically different from each other. David wrote that before WDW came to town, central Florida was considerably more rural than Anaheim had been before 160 acres of orange groves became Disneyland. For example, on page 55 Realityland says that some of the 14 original cast members staffing the Preview Center during WDW construction were normally barefoot prior to being hired by Disney. Today Disneyland in Anaheim remained the most provincial of the two parks. I had thought it was obvious--Disneyland is small-town America and WDW is the big city. I am prejudiced by visiting both as a regular guest--and by taking the guided tours of both places. Mr. Koenig was able to overcome his original impression--one he earned while interviewing 250 Disneyland cast members over seven years and while researching records and libraries for Mouse Tales. In 1995 David Koenig got his `I don't think we're in Kansas anymore' moment when he began interviewing WDW cast members at the Big Bamboo Lounge in Kissimmee, Florida.
From there this enjoyable history of Walt Disney World delves right into Project X days. There is a connection between the CIA and WDW--see page 24: William Donovan (World War Two OSS chief--the forerunner of today's CIA) was a partner in the New York law firm used by Walt Disney for his Florida project. Tradecraft (as spy techniques are called) was used to hide Walt Disney Production's identity as the company acquired 44 square miles of swampland. One measure was co-opting the owner and publisher of the Orlando Sentinel, Martin Anderson. The history lesson is only part of Realityland--an enjoyable part. The role played by the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair and Walt's death and the `ghost town' opening day are all in here.
The heart and of the Florida Project was an experimental city that Walt called EPCOT. Walt was the soul of the Florida Project--when Walt died, EPCOT went from bonfire to glowing cinder. That cinder was enough to become Walt Disney World. Reading history shows that Walt Disney Productions/The Disney Company has always had hard times. EPCOT Center was opened in 1982 as a permanent world fair, a second theme park near the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom.
Today's United States has more homogeneity than when Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971. That is why people like Buzz Price of ERA were hired--to make sure that culture shock didn't sink the Disney Company. Still, there were culture shocks. Many WDW guests that first year were from New York and New Jersey--and not laid-back like the majority of the Disneyland guests. The crepe craze had hit the West Coast--but the East Coast guests wanted `real food'--hot dogs! Sometimes Planning doesn't ask Research the right questions.
David Koenig's Realityland is packed with gems for the Disney fan--such as a Utilidors diagram on page 120. WDW was one of the first `green' companies--its waste water is treated so that it is fit to drink (but isn't--the treated waste water us used to keep WDW's lawns green). Page 122 goes into the innovations at WDW--significant ones.
For Mouse Tales fans, the injuries and fatalities are exposed in Chapter 8, Crash Mountain. Chapter 11, Starring in the Show, is about cast member (employee) experiences. There are uniquely WDW experiences that Disneyland cast members never deal with--wild hogs and alligators for examples. The roller coaster Eisner years at WDW are told--including the sad transformation of the world's finest theme parks into shopping malls with $100 cover charges--shopping malls that carried the same merchandise available at any mega warehouse store, but at twice the price...
So how did EPCOT transform from the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow to an Experimental Prototype Theme Park of Tomorrow? David writes on page 321 that the Spirit of EPCOT has all but vanished--on the last page (324) David explains why: "Sadly, this world doesn't produce a whole lot of Walt Disneys."

What It Means to be a Gator (What It Means to Be ...)

Mark Schlabach

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Editorial Review:

What It Means to Be a Gator offers readers a rare opportunity to be educated by those who know Florida football best: the players who poured their blood, sweat, and tears into a program during its mostly lean seasons, to those who are reaping the benefits of that hard work with the championship program today. Now you can hear, in their own words, from players past and present who weathered lean seasons, fought through rivalries, learned the meaning of team and family, and together built a winning program steeped in tradition--that's what it means to be a Florida Gator.

Tales of Old Florida

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Turn of the Century Florida brought to life 5 out of 5 stars.
23 of 23 people found this review helpful.

A collection of newspaper articles about the state of Florida from the turn of the last century. This is a excellent method of presenting a detailed and varied look at what originally drew people to this state. It's also a poignant look at what the increased population of the state has caused. One article mentions fishermen being able to spot turtles swimming along the bottom of Sarasota Bay while today visibility in the same bay is often measured in terms of inches instead of feet. Of course, there were many different view points at the time as well. Some of the articles are clearly written with conversationalist overtones while others discuss the entertainment of shooting unlimited numbers of animals while traveling the state's waterways. Whatever your viewpoint, this is a very entertaining trip in time to Old Florida.

A Wonderful Historical Background Collection 4 out of 5 stars.
21 of 21 people found this review helpful.

This is a great collection of magazine articles documenting trips and moves to Florida dating from the late 1800's to the early 1900's. I found it fascinating reading about the wilderness this state was only a century ago.

Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life: Florida Caribbean Bahamas

Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent annotation of great guides! 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Snorkeling Guide to Marine Life is a very handy truncation of three heavy, bulky, but excellent references. There are extraordinary photographs of fish, creatures, and coral taken by noticeable experts. The fish species covered are stunning, and carefully chosen for quality. The others are also amazing and excilirating. A favorite fish species of mine, the Trumpetfish, is included here, shown in a beautiful photograph. Other interesting fish, such as puffers, cowfish, and triggerfish, are also listed. The "Creature Identification" section of the guide is as carefully picked out as the "Fish" ID part. Beautiful crabs, shrimps, and others are shown in nice photos. All make to combine a short, but very helpful field companion.

Editorial Review:

This field guide illustrates all the fish, corals, invertebrates and plants you are most likely to encounter in less than 15 feet of water in the Caribbean. Humann's photographs are excellent for identification purposes - and the handy size makes it perfect to take along in the boat or to the beach.

Everglades River of Grass 60th Anniversary Edition

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent book on the Everglades, the history of Florida, and the ecology of Florida.

Wonderful book to learn about the Everglades 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Although there are no photos, this is an excellent table book to read and share with guests visiting Florida. It has wonderful history notes on the Everglades.

Editorial Review:

Updated and revised for the 60th Anniversary. New afterword by Michael Grunwald, author of The Swamp.

Florida's Fabulous Seashells: And Other Seashore Life

Winston Williams

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Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Collecting seashells in the state of Florida 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book has beautiful full color photos of seashells which can be
found in the state of Florida. The descriptions of the shells are
excellent and if you are a collector, you will gain a lot of knowledge
from reading this book. Whether you are a native of Florida or a snowbird,
you will start to recognize the pictured shells as you explore the sandy
beaches on your own. A very enjoyable book for anyone interested in sea-
shells.

Best Shelling Book for All Ages! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This great book is packed with trivia, great photos, humor and education. The kids in our family love looking at the pictures and I love the color photos identifying not only many of Florida's seashells but also other mysterious matter that you may happen to find on the beach. I've read it over and over and still find something new each time I read it. There's a section on cleaning shells, how shells reproduce (this is mind-blowing!). What is so interesting is many shells are shown with their inhabitants inside so you now know exactly what kind of animal made that beautiful shell you now have in your hand. The book covers areas in Florida such as the famous Sanibel, as well as other beaches on the West Coast, the Keys and South Florida. You'll discover which shell is worth thousands of dollars, which lump of stuff found on the beach is more valuable than gold and so much more. I've ordered extra books for my nieces and nephews because it is so rich in knowledge.