Heritage Lecture Season 2025-2026
“Writers in Paradise: Hemingway, Capote, Hurston, and Others Who Found their Inspiration in Florida”
Join us for a wonderful evening with our distinguished guest, Dr. James Clark, Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Florida.
Beginning with a poem around 1560, the Florida story has been told and shared many times and in many ways. This presentation features the stories of over two dozen well-known authors of the past and present who found inspiration and a haven under Florida’s sun.
Dr. Clark will share the stories of scores of writers including Robert Frost, Jack Kerouac, John D. MacDonald, Ernest Hemingway, Judy Blume and Stephen King. Imagine Hunter Thompson driving through the streets of Key West using a bullhorn to warn the citizens, Tennessee Williams partying with Truman Capote, Ring Lardner planning a get together with Al Capone – it’s all here.
Sponsored by Florida Humanities.
Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 6:00pm
Delray Beach Public Library, 100 West Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach.
$20 / $15 for Society members.
Refreshments served.
Not a Society member, join today! https://delraybeachhistory.org/support/
Dr. Clark is a Senior Lecturer in the University of Central Florida History Department. He has emerged as one of Florida’s leading historians, noted for his books and research. He is the author of nine books, and the editor of a three-volume anthology of Florida Literature. He is a graduate of Lennoir-Rhyne College, holds a master’s degree from Stetson University, and a doctorate in Florida history from the University of Florida. His articles have appeared in “The Washington Post,” “Washington Monthly,” and “The Miami Herald.” His work has been honored by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, the Florida Magazine Association, and the Florida Historical Society.
