Local Park Ranger set to launch book about Apalachicola

Park Ranger and Author Michael Kinnett holding

a copy of his first novel Apalachicola Pearl

Photo courtesy of Michael Kinnett Facebook Page

Michael Kinnett, a Park Ranger at the Orman House Historic State Park in Apalachicola and a new author is set to release his first novel, “Apalachicola Pearl” with a book launching party to be held at the Apalachicola Center for History Culture and Art located at 86 Water Street in Apalachicola. The event is scheduled to take place August 20, 2016, from 4:00-6:00 P.M., and will include refreshments, a presentation, a reading and book signing by Kinnett.

Excerpts from Apalachicola Pearl 

“Apalachicola, Florida, the cotton shipping boomtown lay under siege. It was here in the backwater, during The Civil War, where women, children, and old struggled to survive. The real threat looming over them did not come from Union blockaders in the Gulf waters or from Confederates with river fortifications to the North. The dark shadow over the town came from a gathering of ruffians calling themselves the Rebel Guard. These so called patriots, without conscience, pillaged and murdered on the backs of a devastated people. It would be two men, Michael Kohler and Stillman Smith, brothers forged in the fires of war, who rose up to stop the Rebel Guard. What chance did they have against an overwhelming force? Someone was going to die.

Meet, LaRela Retsyo Agnusdei, a precocious seven-year-old known as Pearl. Learn of her remarkable life and courageous efforts to alter a world torn apart. Enjoy reading as Pearl moves the players around the board.

The event was called “The Marr, Smith Affair,” a documented event that shook the governments of both the Confederacy and the Union. It remains a mystery today. What happened? Perhaps the recently discovered journal of Michael Brandon Kohler offers an answer.”

The book published by Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) Publishing out of Tallahassee, is listed at $14.95 on the company's website. However, there's a $3.00 discount if ordered before August 18th.

For more information about the event, please contact Paulette Moss, Director Apalachicola Center for History, Culture and Art Apalachicola School of Art at 1-855-APALACH (855-272-5224) or visit their website at www.historicapalachicola.com.