Speaking Volumes | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings at 125. She brought early Florida to life

On Aug. 8th, we marked the 125th birthday of an iconic Florida woman, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Like many of our residents, she was not originally from the Sunshine State, but quickly became a devoted cheerleader of its culture, nature and history.

Rawlings moved to the small community of Cross Creek in Alachua County in 1928 after purchasing an orange grove. Only 32, she and her husband, both writers, set about exploring the remote wilderness of the area and getting to know the Florida “crackers,” or natives,k who lived there.

Rawlings’ literary successes are known by many, but she hadn’t come to Cross Creek just to gather fodder for her books. Rawlings embraced rural life in Florida. She continued to run her orange grove on her own after her husband left her in 1933, no longer wanting to live such a pioneer lifestyle.

She hunted alligators, survived hurricanes, and perfected her recipe for key lime pie while writing moving books like “The Yearling,” which won a Pulitzer Prize, and “Cross Creek,” a memoir of her time in Florida.

Rawlings’ work, however, was not beloved by all. In 1943, she was sued by a neighbor who was offended by her depiction in “Cross Creek.” Although Rawlings won the case, she felt betrayed by her community, and refused to write any more stories about her life in Florida. However, she continued to write, splitting her time between a farmhouse in New York and St. Augustine, where her second husband, Norton Baskin, operated a hotel.

After her death in 1953, her Cross Creek citrus grove was gifted to the University of Florida. It is now home to the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park.

This month, check out one of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ stories about Florida from your Manatee Libraries. Her best-known book “The Yearling,” published in 1938 is the story of a young boy facing the challenges of growing up in the post-Civil War era on a backwoods Florida farm. This book was made into a movie in 1946 starring Gregory Peck.

“Cross Creek,” published in 1942, is a memoir featuring a wild cast of characters set in the Alachua community that Rawlings called home for many years. This book was also made into a movie in 1983, starring Mary Steenburgen and Rip Torn.

Rawlings also wrote a cookbook, “Cross Creek Cookery,” which features over 250 recipes inspired by the town, as well as more tales from her time there. Some of her correspondence has been published in “Selected Letters of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings,” edited by Gordon E. Bigelow and Laura V. Monti.

There is also a biography, “Natural Writer: A Story About Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings”, by Judy Cook that can be found in the children’s area.

Your library is online: www.mymanatee.org/library. Free masks are available at all library locations.

Manatee Libraries are fine free! Please note that lost/damaged fees still apply.

Katie Fleck is assistant supervisor of Central Library Information Services for the Manatee County Public Library System. Speaking Volumes is written by members of the library staff.

This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 11:23 AM.