Congratulations to Sarah McCulloch from Davie, FL on winning the 2025 Will McLean Best new Florida Song Contest for her song, Everglades City 1985.
“I am so honored to have won the contest,” said McCulloch. “It is one of my proudest accomplishments.” She says the song is a tender and gritty tale of love and loss amidst the drug scandals in a small Florida town that time forgot.
“I grew up in the same county as Everglades City, so we were neighbors, just thousands of acres of Everglades between us. I don’t know exactly what it was like to be a Fisherman’s wife but I know what it was like to be a Sawmiller’s daughter watching my father slowly lose his business because of the national park service moving in and limiting land use.
The song is really about the human toll on the family that occurs when the ability to make a living on the land is lost. My father died suddenly in 1996 of a pulmonary embolism and everyone felt that the stress he was under shortened his life. When I sing the line “I’ll find me a job that won’t disappear, then I won’t have to disappear,” I’m singing about my father’s death. I hope the song makes people think too about what they would have done in that situation, “ … .. if a boat and a line and a fish were your way of life.” It’s raw and edgy and might make a few people uncomfortable but it’s real. I know it cause’ I lived it.”
McCulloch will be performing her winning song at the Will McLean Festival scheduled for March 7 – 9th, 2025 at the Florida Sand Music Ranch near Brooksville.
In 2023 McCulloch placed 3rd with the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest with “Sugartown” from her widely acclaimed album Sawmiller’s Daughter produced by Jim Bickerstaff (Bickerstaff won the contest in 2024).
She released her newest album, “Driving Me Home” in May of 2024. It is a collection of 12 original songs steeped in folk/country storytelling and is available everywhere music is streamed. In February, 2024 McCulloch was selected as one of the winners of the 2024 South Florida Folk and Acoustic Music Festival’s Singer-Songwriter Competition.
2nd Place Finisher – Daniel Stepp- “Goodbye Senator”
The 2nd place finisher in the 2025 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest is Daniel Stepp from Gainesville, FL with a song called, “Goodbye Senator.”
Stepp shared this inspiration for the song. “In 2012 a 3,500 year old cypress tree called The Senator, in Big Tree Park in Longwood, Florida was burned down. The fire was caused by a woman, Sara Banes, lighting a small fire to assist her in smoking crystal meth beneath the tree and (it) quickly grew out of control and destroyed the tree, the 5th oldest tree in the world, and the oldest tree in the US east of the Mississippi River. This song is about the imposition we place on nature, wonder, and awe, through notions of progress and individualism.” Stepp says he’s honored to place in the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest and will be participating in the Will McLean Festival as a performer for the first time.
He has been writing songs for a new album with his band, The Wire Birds which will focus exclusively on stories and events in Florida. “As a Florida native I have always been interested in the narrative content in our state and how it’s filled with nature, awe and wonder, tragedy and mythologies of progress and utopianism. Some of the songs will include stories of the North Florida Barge Canal, tourist attractions, carnival shows, sugar cane, immaculate conceptions, insurance fraud, and religious movements.” Stepp’s Instagram link is thewirebirds_gnv.
3rd Place Finisher – Bob Patterson- “A Place In My Heart”
Bob Patterson from St. Augustine is the 3rd place finisher of the 2025 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest for, “A Place In My Heart.”
Patterson is no stranger to the contest. In 2019 he placed 1st with a song called “Silver Springs.” In 2005 he placed 3rd with a song called, “Lullabye of the Rivers.” It’s become somewhat of an anthem around the state. More importantly, it’s been used by educators to teach students about the natural history, geography, ecology and the state of health of Florida’s Rivers.
“The idea is if we don’t teach the kids about the environment, we can’t expect them to grow up wanting to protect it,” said Patterson. He hopes to obtain funding to create a DVD that could be used in schools to teach more educators how to utilize music in their science and history classes.
Patterson is the key organizer of a relatively new festival in the St. Augustine Area called “Lullabye of the Rivers.”He was one of the original founders of the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival, and functioned as the event’s Artistic Director for 24 years. In 2011 the Stetson Kennedy Foundation awarded him the ‘Fellow Man and Mother Earth Award’ for his work in actively keeping folk culture alive in Florida.
Patterson was a 2011 first place winner in the North Florida Folk Network song writing contest in the category of Best Florida Song. In 2014 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Storytelling Association.
He has been a featured performer at the annual Florida Folk Festival at White Springs for more than 45 years and was recently inducted into the St Augustine Music Hall of Fame. In addition to critically acclaimed CDs, Patterson has authored two books, Forgotten Tales of Florida, and, Dorothy. Both books are loaded with Florida folk lore and history and have become very popular in the folk community and beyond.
(Always one of my favorite program specials to revisit, especially during the Holidays. Sit back during all the hustle and bustle and relax to some of the most beautiful music you have ever heard on acoustic instruments).
Flutist George Tortorelli and harpist Lisa Lynne have often performed at Gainesville’s Downtown Arts Festival in the Fall. They’ve also performed at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs on Memorial Weekend or any number of festivals around the state…that is when they were not touring across the country with their New Age Music. For many years George Tortorelli played music in a rock ‘n roll band. These days he prefers the soothing sound of his homemade flutes from his bamboo forest around his Gainesville home. Along with music partner Lisa Lynne, they’ve had a number of CDs top the New Age charts. He talked with Donna Green-Townsend about the production of their Christmas CD. Sit back and enjoy this 28 minute special that aired on WUFT in 2011 from Donna’s radio archives.
For more than two decades the public has been treated to a beautiful Christmas display of lights near Orange Springs, located at 23373 NE 112 Ct, Fort McCoy, FL 32134. Charlie and Sally Cade say the light show is the family’s gift to the community. Though the Cade family had to cancel the popular light display the past couple of years because of the Covid 19 virus, the display is back this year.
Thousands have flocked to see the colorful light display through the years. Charlie Cade says he has fond memories of his years growing up in Miami when his family couldn’t afford a lot at Christmas time. He remembers how his family would drive around the city to see Christmas lights. His family’s display of more than 200-thousand lights is a way of providing that joyful experience for others. The video below shows just what the display looks like in a normal year.
More than 450 yard figures usually dazzle thousands of children and adult visitors alike from 6pm – 10pm through New Year’s Eve.
Jim Bickerstaff says winning the Will McLean song contest is more than an honor, “It is recognition by my peers in a community of fine writers, performers, and humans … a validation of my creative efforts.” He says the late Margaret Longhill, who was instrumental in starting not only the Will McLean Festival, but also the Will McLean Foundation, is the main reason he ever wrote any songs about Florida, “She wore her vision on her sleeve, and she is the person that made room for a Georgia boy in the Florida Folk community. ”
“I first met Margaret Longhill in the early days of WillFest, before we called it that I think,” says Bickerstaff. The first two he attended were at two different venues near Dunnellon, and the following year, Longhill moved it to what was then called the Sertoma Youth Ranch and now called Florida Sand Ranch. He says, “Jim Billie invited me to play with him at the festival, and like everyone who ever came within range of Margaret’s magnetic field, I assumed an orbit and became a thread in the tapestry she was continuously weaving. Margaret had a sizable influence on everyone she met as well as on people who have no idea who she was. She was a purposeful woman and a good soul. I will never forget Sister Mary,” says Bickerstaff.
He says the primary message of his winning song, “Sister Mary,” is that we still have work to do preserving Florida and the rest of the planet for that matter. With Margaret gone, we are left to carry on her vision with art, music, and fighting for balance between development and conservation.” Bridge – What used to be is gone forever, time don’t go back to where it’s been. But as we step into tomorrow, are we going to let this happen once again? The secondary message says Bickerstaff, “A testimony to the fact that Margaret was here and did this thing.” Second VerseSister Mary beckons all the flowers in the field to gather for the Native sonThen they blow like dandelions, scattered to the wind, singing songs of old Florida. He adds, “I think it is important to understand that the planet will shrug us off like a rash once we destroy our ability to survive here. A few hundred thousand years after we become extinct, there will be little sign that we ever existed. Yet, our longevity is largely in our hands if we learn to coexist within the delicate balance that makes this planet inhabitable by humans.” 3rd VerseFloods and raging hurricanes have come and they have goneBut nothing any man can do can keep away the dawn.
Bickerstaff credits the musicians for “Sister Mary” as: Terry Feller – Drums, Bob Wray – Bass, Clayton Ivey – Wurlitzer Piano, Pat Severs – Acoustic Guitar, Johnny B – Dobro, Donny Carpenter – Fiddle, Jim Bickerstaff – Vocals & Acoustic Guitar.
As a four-year house engineer for legendary producer, Johnny Sandlin, Bickerstaff has worked at the top of the music business as an audio engineer for groups such as Widespread Panic, Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit & The Dixie Dregs on releases by Capricorn Records and Warner Brothers Music. Additional projects and artists include Scott Boyer, Tommy Talton, Chuck Leavell, Butch Trucks, Eddie Hinton, Loretta Lynn, Roger Hawkins, Randall Bramblett, T Lavitz, David Hood, John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Gladys Knight, Kelvin Holly, Spanky Alford, and others.
As an independent producer and engineer, Bickerstaff has worked with Jupiter Coyote, Chief Jim Billie, Sarah McCulloch, Jeannie Fitchen, Mindy Simmons, Raiford Starke, Joey Errigo, Clyde Walker, Sam Pacetti, Vassar Clements, John McEuen, Bela Fleck, Upsala, and other Indie artists.
As a writer and performer, Bickerstaff has released three albums of his music. He retired from Duke Energy in June, 2023 and has leaned into performing and production full-time again. In 2020 Bickerstaff placed third in the song contest with “Jim Billie, Chief of the Seminole.”
2nd Place Finisher, Amy Carol Webb- “Carry It On”
Amy Carol Webb says as a child she always knew that she wanted to be a musician and a minister when she grew up. Her father was a music teacher and a gospel preacher like his father before him. Her mother was a singer, Bible-school teacher and Mom to the kids of the neighborhood wherever they lived – and they lived a lot of places throughout Oklahoma, and Texas.
“Our house was like growing up in a practice hall as all us kids learned and experimented, what with the four of us singing and playing guitars, drums, trombone, tuba, piano, sax….it was a lovely kind of chaos. Music was breathing to me. Still is,” said Webb.
Upon graduating college with a BSE in Performing Arts, Webb says she set out for a career in marketing, music performance, production and education, in Los Angeles. As a performer and songwriter, she toured the US, Canada, Mexico and Japan, and played from the Kennedy Center to the stages of some of the most hallowed music festivals, universities and conferences.
As an educator Webb has taught music, creative writing, songwriting and life-skills development from the halls of the University of Miami to the cells of maximum security women’s prisons in Florida.
In the realm of Justice Music, Webb is a Charter Fellow of Noel Paul Stookey’s “Music2Life Foundation,” working for justice through music. In 2010 she graduated Summa Cum Laude from seminary at Andover Newton Theological School and was ordained the following year by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Boca Raton, where she served for three years as a student and intern. Presently, she works as a Board Certified hospice Chaplain and bereavement group facilitator and is Consulting Minister to the River of Grass Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Davie, Florida.
She continues to provide concerts and workshops, and compose and record new music. In 2013 she released her 10th CD, Moments: Music – Mantra – Mystery, a celebration of devotional music from the world’s spiritual traditions as well as new Unitarian Universalist hymns and chants. Her justice anthem, STAND!, debuted at the 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly with a 150 voice choir and has been taken up by UU congregations and justice champions around the world – along with the call to action Tell Somebody! released at the UUA General Assembly 2012, and the invitation to reverence, On Holy Ground.
Webb says, “I am privileged to travel widely within the acoustic music community and the Unitarian Universalist movement preaching, singing, speaking, facilitating a variety of workshops focused to deepen, strengthen, amplify and edify – including fifteen years of service to SUUSI (Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute) with four years on the Board. In service to the larger faith community, I regularly speak, sing and teach at interfaith events, welcoming denominations, and also have served on the Board of the Ecumenical Institute at St. Thomas University in Miami.”
Webb is no stranger to the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest. In 2002 she placed first with her song Turtle Tears. That same year she also placed third for her song Rivers Roll On. Webb has been a consistent headliner at the Will McLean Music Festival and other music festivals across the state including the Florida Folk Festival, the Gamble Rogers Music Festival and the South Florida Folk and Acoustic Music Festival.
Tie: 3rd Place Finisher, Lis Williamson- “Land of Flowers”
Elisabeth Williamson is a singer-songwriter residing in the Sandhills of her native Florida. She has been performing in Florida for many decades with her husband, Lon, in various groups over the years, The Driftwoods, The Gatorbone Band, Valla Turner Williamson and so many more. She and her husband Lon have recorded and produced more than 75 records of all original Florida folk music for the Florida folk singer-songwriter community which she describes as a deeply fulfilling endeavor. Her song, The Land of Flowers, was inspired by her lifetime of observance of the changing state of the state of Florida as well as a commentary that, “we must remain vigilant to preserve what’s left of her natural beauty.”
Williamson, who has been a player and lead singer in bluegrass bands, country bands, folk trios, madrigals and jazz ensembles has performed in thousands of venues, from festivals to honkytonks, wine bars, churches and barns as well as weddings, christenings, funerals, gourmet restaurants and rodeos around the country. She is active with the Gamble Rogers Music Festival Board. You can catch her performing most often at a variety of venues in the St. Augustine area.
Tie- 3rd Place finisher, Kurt Fortmeyer- “Pelicans“
Kurt Fortmeyer describes himself as a neo-traditional hobo, bluesman, honkytonking folksinger and songwriter. He says he was born in a barn, and raised in a stable environment, or so he might tell an unwitting listener in one of his sillier moments. He lived in North Carolina, California, Hawaii, and Maryland, before starting the first grade in Texas. A long-time lover of music, Fortmeyer joined his first band at the age of thirteen, and started writing songs almost right away. By the age of 19, he was turning into more of a solo singer/songwriter, with the occasional stints in blues, country, and rock bands.
In the 1970s, he hitchhiked coast-to-coast with a guitar and a burlap sack full of clothes. In the 1980s, he met his wife, and mostly came in off the road. With the help of friends, he built the house where his kids grew up in eastern North Carolina. In the 1990s, he and his wife opened a coffeehouse that became a haven for songwriters, and in the early part of this century, they moved to the Nashville area, where they now live in a holler in the hills northwest of town.
Fortmeyer has performed at the world-famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville for almost 20 years. He has been a featured performer at the North Carolina Museum of History, and The Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. His recordings have been played on radio stations around the world, and are available on most streaming platforms.
He describes his inspiration for writing his song Pelicans, “I was writing a “Coastal Country” kind of song with a producer friend of mine and his artist, when I came up with a line about a pelican. My friend went off on me. “Nobody’s going to sing a song with the word ‘pelican’ in it. It’s a clunky word, and an ugly bird. A seagull is the iconic ocean bird. It has to be a seagull.” I told him “You can find seagulls at the landfill, but if you see pelicans, you know you’re at the coast.” He insisted on a seagull, and since it was for his artist, and they bought my lunch, I relented. On the way home, I started thinking about about it, and his comment stuck in my craw. When I got home, I started working on Pelicans.
4th Through 10th Place Finishers:
4th place- Chad Spikes- “Days Long Gone“
5th place- Chad Spikes- “Ghost of the Suwannee”
Tie 6th place- Cindy Bear and Susan Grandy- “Suwannee River in White Springs”
Tie 6th place- Chad Spikes- “Apalachee Sky”
7th place- David Beede- “The Melrose Song”
8th place- Dale & Lisa Dollar- “Ochlockonee”
9th place- Scott Campbell- “Bloody Buckets Bridge”
The Yearling movie, and more importantly, the novel, may never have happened if it hadn’t been for Leonard Fiddia. Marjorie Rawlings met Leonard Fiddia in either 1929 or 1930 while on a hunting trip with a mutual friend. It was Leonard Fiddia who introduced her to Calvin Long in the “Big Scrub.” Calvin Long shared with Marjorie the story about his brother Melvin, who had a pet deer. From there the classic story was born.
Sydney and Paul Laxton
Leonard Fiddia lived off of Hog Valley Road by the Ocklawaha River. I recently had the chance to sit down with Leonard Fiddia’s grandson Paul Laxton and his wife Sydney who live on the same property that Piety and Leonard lived on when Marjorie visited back in the 1930s to gather material for her books.
Fiddia Homestead
“It’s a property that’s been in our family since about 1890,” said Paul. “The actual house that they lived in is right here where this house is. It’s kind of like right here in front of our house.”
Like many folks in the 1930s, Paul says his grandfather, Leonard Fiddia, did whatever he could to support and feed his family.
“He would night hunt. It was stuff that was illegal, but they were just trying to survive, you know,” said Paul, who is a retired Marion County Sheriff’s deputy. “So he had fish traps, he kept fish traps out there in the river where he would go and collect fish and eat fish. They had venison. They raised hogs and then there was the garden….They lived pretty much off the land. My mom talks about how some of it was illegal, but they were just trying to survive. It may have been somewhat of a simple life, but I think it was a good life for them.”
Paul says Leonard was also a skilled carpenter and electrician. Like many other folks in the “Big Scrub,” he made moonshine. Marjorie not only bought moonshine from Leonard, but helped him make it, spending several weeks with him and his mother Piety Fiddia to gather material for her first major novel, South Moon Under.
James, Piety and Leonard Fiddia
Sydney Laxton says she loves Marjorie’s novel, South Moon Under. “Once I got into it I could not put it down, especially because it was where we live. Our home that we built in 1992, this is where it happened, the South Moon Under story took place.”
Leonard, Piety and Marjorie became good friends to the point that when Leonard and his wife Margaret faced a family tragedy, Marjorie or “Marge” as Leonard called her, was even willing to donate her blood to try and save their youngest daughter.
Grace, Carol and Elmer Fiddia
The year was 1949. Leonard and Margaret had three living children. An infant had died shortly after birth. There was Carol, who was 15, seven year old Elmer, and a five year old daughter Grace. In the fall of 1949, Grace became seriously ill and was taken to Dr. J. L. Strange’s medical clinic in McIntosh. She talked about visiting with little Grace in a letter she wrote to her husband Norton Baskin dated December 12th, 1949:
“I went to Dr. Strange’s hospital Monday afternoon, and Leonard and Margaret and Jean were all there, Margaret worn to the bone, Leonard in tears. St. Vincent’s had confirmed the leukemia, and sent the child back where her family could be with her all the time. The great horror of it is her suffering. Aside from an almost constant fever of 105, she has begun to swell, and since the bone-marrow is affected, she is in utter agony…..She has to have a blood transfusion almost every day, to keep her alive, and Leonard said he had almost given out of donors.” (Rodger L. Tarr, ed. The Private Marjorie : the Love Letters of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings to Norton S. Baskin. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2004)
Though she was willing to donate, Marjorie’s blood type wasn’t suitable for little Grace. A local hardware store donated a new red wagon for the little girl, something Grace had wanted, but sadly she died one week before Christmas.
Margaret and Grace Fiddia, Dec., 1949
Paul and Sydney shared family photos and mementos with me, including a video recorded of Paul’s mother Carol (Leonard’s oldest daughter) talking about Marjorie at a talk in Fort McCoy a few years before Carol passed away. Little Grace’s death remained a difficult subject even decades later.
“She died exactly a week before Christmas,” said Carol Fiddia. “That was a sad Christmas.”
Marjorie attended the funeral service at the Fort McCoy Cemetery on December 21, 1949. The memorial book shows that she contributed a vase with white flowers for the service. In a letter to her friend and publisher representative, Norman Berg dated December 29th, 1949, she described sitting at the gravesite in the Fort McCoy Cemetery:
“Leonard’s little girl died a week before Christmas. The funeral services were in the little Fort McCoy cemetery where Leonard’s people back to his great-grandfather are buried, and were simple and sweet, if such a thing is possible, with the wind in the pines, and a nearby saw-mill chug-chugging away. Leonard’s little boy, aged seven, the dreadful Elmer, wrestled with another little boy at the very edge of the grave–. Leonard insisted that I sit in the front row with the family, and Elmer sat next to me, chewing gum, and fascinated by his new shoes, which he kept rubbing together with a great squeaking, most satisfactory to Elmer.” (Laura Virginia Monti and Gordon E. Bigelow, eds. Selected Letters of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1983)
Marjorie went on in that letter to Norman Berg to describe travelling to the Fiddia homestead to bring Christmas dinner.
“I promised Leonard and Miss Piety that I’d come to the Scrub this week, and I was sure they would have had some of the east coast rain on their deep sand road, so yesterday afternoon I set out with a turkey and all the fixings in time to cook dinner there. They had not a drop of rain, the place is 8 miles from anywhere, and I had to dig out twice. But we had as fine an afternoon and evening as possible under the circumstances of their sadness, and the turkey dinner cooked in the old wood-range was delicious, and Mis’ Piety put her thin old arms around me and said, ‘This is like old times,’” wrote Marjorie.
Carol Fiddia Laxton
Leonard Fiddia’s daughter Carol remembers that Christmas dinner well. “All I remember about that meal is the turkey. Now we had eaten turkey because my dad killed wild turkeys occasionally. But they were always cut up before they were cooked. But she had this great big bought roasted turkey there on the table. Now that was impressive,” said Carol.
“My mom talked about it being a rough Christmas ‘cuz Grace had passed away just prior to Christmas and one thing she talked about was how Marjorie showed up at the house Christmas morning with all the fixings to make ‘em a Christmas dinner meal for them,” said Paul.
“It really touched Carol because she would still choke up you know, telling the story,” said Sydney.
The Fiddias remained close friends throughout Marjorie’s life. Leonard continued to do work to help maintain Marjorie’s home and serviced Marjorie’s Kohler plant which provided her electricity. The family says he even helped with carpentry work on the set of The Yearling movie in the mid-1940s. Both Piety Fiddia and Marjorie died in the same year…Piety in April of 1953 and Marjorie in December of 1953. Leonard Fiddia died in 1958.
To see the full 58-minute documentary online click here: PBS.org
The documentary is also available on the PBS app by typing in the word Yearling in the search box. You can also view the documentary on the WUFT-TV passport. PBS stations can download the broadcast version from NETA.
DVDs of the documentary are now available for $20 plus $4 for postage and handling. All proceeds benefit projects on the farm. Please make your check payable to the Friends of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Farm, Inc., and mail to P. O. Box 337, Micanopy, FL 32667-0337.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Yearling novelMGM movie crew in 1945 in FL
From Novel to Movie: The Yearling in Florida is also being distributed to more than 350 PBS stations via NETA, The National Educational Telecommunications Association. Check local listings in your area for availability.
From Novel to Movie: The Yearling in Florida takes an inside look at a classic movie as well as the award-winning classic novel which inspired the film with the people who lived the story. The documentary shares oral histories from some of the actors and stand-ins who were featured in the Oscar-nominated MGM Classic, The Yearling, the coming of age story about a post-Civil War backwoods Florida family who raised an orphaned deer which leads to heartbreaking conflict.
Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman, Jr. and Gregory Peck
2022 marked the 75th Anniversary of when the film was honored at the Academy Awards with seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor nominations for Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman. The Yearling took home Oscars for Cinematography and Art Direction and Claude Jarman, Jr. received a Juvenile Acting Oscar for his role as young “Jody Baxter” in the movie.
The Yearling, directed by Clarence Brown, was based on the 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The documentary, From Novel to Movie: The Yearling in Florida features many unique home movie clips recorded by actor Gregory Peck during the time he was working on the film in the Ocala National Forest in Florida in 1945.
(l to r) Bobby Randall and Claude Jarman, Jr.Gregory Peck and Claude Jarman, Jr.Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman, Jr.
The documentary also includes extensive interview segments with Oscar winner Claude Jarman, Jr. who played young Jody Baxter in the MGM film. Memories from Florida residents who served as stand-ins for Peck and Jarman as well as some of the people who worked on the movie set in Florida’s scrub country are also featured.
We are so thankful to Claude Jarman, Jr. for providing photos and most of all his insight on the making of the classic film. We are also appreciative of The Gregory Peck Foundation for providing home movie clips recorded by Gregory Peck while he was filming in Florida and California in 1945.
Click on the video below to see the first five minutes of the 58 minute documentary.
To see the full 58-minute documentary online click here: PBS.org
The documentary is also available on the PBS app by typing in the word Yearling in the search box. You can also view the documentary on the WUFT-TV passport. PBS stations can download the broadcast version from NETA.
Meet the people behind the documentary below
Marion Theatre QA, Dec. 2021Donna and Claude, QA, Dec. 2021Donna and Claude, Yearling Restaurant, Cross Creek, FL, Dec. 2021
The producer of the documentary is award-winning journalist Donna Green-Townsend. She has more than 50 years of radio and television experience and is the recipient of a National Edward R. Murrow Award for documentary production as well as numerous state and regional journalism awards. In December of 2021 she interviewed Claude Jarman, Jr. on stage at the Marion Theatre in Ocala, FL before a showing of the original movie The Yearling.
Documentary Producer Donna Green-Townsend
Kathy with Bobby RandallKathy, Claude Jarman, Jr. and Bobby RandallKathlyne Walkup Sheppard
The co-producer is Kathlyne Walkup Sheppard whose knowledge, relatives and acquaintances from the “Big Scrub” were invaluable to the project. A big thank you goes to members of the Friends of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Farm Board for ongoing support on this project.
In 1939, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The Yearling. Her inspiration for the novel came from time spent with people who lived in the “Big Scrub.” Marjorie’s friend Leonard Fiddia, who did work for her, lived along the Ocklawaha River. He sold and taught her how to make moonshine. She stayed with the Fiddia family to gather material for her book South Moon Under, her first novel. Leonard Fiddia introduced her to Calvin Long in the forest. It was his brother Melvin Long who had a pet deer. That’s where The Yearling story began. Melvin’s experience with his pet deer became the story of Jody Baxter. Marjorie’s inspiration for her character Fodderwing in the novel came from meeting Rodney Slater. Rodney, the son of her friend “Widow” Slater in Cross Creek, suffered from physical disabilities.
Leonard Fiddia who introduced MKR to Calvin LongCalvin Long who told MKR about his brother Melvin’s pet deerMelvin Long who raised a pet deerRodney Slater who inspired MKR’s Fodderwing character
MGM bought the film rights and began production on the movie version in 1941 in the “Big Scrub” of the Ocala National Forest in Florida. A variety of East Marion County residents were hired to work on the set in the forest, including Richard Mills. That first effort to make the film was scrapped when actor Spencer Tracy decided to head back to California. Near the end of WWII, a new cast and crew headed back to the forest in 1945. That crew included Gregory Peck as Penny Baxter and Claude Jarman, Jr. as Jody Baxter. Once again, many East Marion County residents found work as either stand-ins for the key actors or took jobs working on the set. Alva Kinsey, Sr. was Gregory Peck’s double and Bobby Randall was Claude Jarman, Jr.’s stand-in. Lawrence Kinsey and Freeman Godwin were hired to work on the film set while others like Jack Owen helped catch fawns for use in the movie getting paid $25 by MGM for each fawn they used during the filming. Here are photos of some of those East Marion County residents.
Young Richard MillsRichard Mills at 100Ethelyne and Jack OwenYoung Bobby Randall and Claude Jarman, Jr. in 1945Claude Jarman, Jr. and Bobby Randall meet after 75 yearsYoung Alva Kinsey, the double for Gregory PeckAlva Kinsey, in his 90sThe younger Lawrence KinseyLawrence Kinsey in his 90sFreeman Godwin, worker on the setHarold “Bunk” Peebles took Gregory Peck down the Silver RiverJ. Robert Peebles, Jr. took Gregory Peck down the Silver River
Fawn (photo by Marian Crawford)
Thanks to the folks who helped tell the story of From Novel to Movie: The Yearling in Florida. Here are photos of the key people who shared their knowledge for the documentary.
MKR Archivist Florence TurcotteKathlyne Walkup Sheppard, documentary co-producerJennifer Pohlers, Media Specialist and granddaughter of Richard MillsBarney Sullivan, Grandson of Barney Dillard, MKR’s bear hunting companionCeleste Godwin Viale, Marion County HistorianAlva Kinsey, Jr.
Ellie Townsend
And last but not least, thanks to Ellie Townsend for her editorial assistance.
Music Selections in the Documentary:
I am especially thankful to the Florida musicians who provided the music we featured in the program. Most of these music pieces are original works created for the documentary . Listen to the music below:
Mickey Abraham- two original mandolin solos
Sue Cunningham and Frank Serio who wrote “Restless Wind”/Shiloh Rising Music ASCAP
performed by Lis and Lon Williamson, Gabe Valla and Christian Ward
The late Father of Florida Folk, Will McLean, wanted to save Florida through music. For more than 25 years, a festival named in his honor, has sponsored a song contest to help facilitate McLean’s passion. Each year a winner and two top finishers are selected by a panel of judges and are given the opportunity to perform their winning song at the annual Will McLean Folk Festival . Click on a link below to hear the winning songs and 2nd and 3rd place finishers from the long-running festival.
To hear all the Top Ten Songs scroll down past the Top Three Winners
Song Contest winner Daniel Childs
Siesta Key
Singer/songwriter Daniel Childs calls the Florida Gulf Coast home, performing roughly 250 live shows per year. Originally from Tennessee, Childs says he began writing and performing music at a young age, and by 30, he had traveled the breadth of the continental United States playing music. The state of Florida had always captured Daniel’s intrigue, and in 2014 he and his wife Norma made it their permanent home, settling in Pinellas County.
In early 2020 Daniel made the decision to quit his day job and pursue playing music full-time. Since that time, he has become a regular performer in Tampa Bay. In 2021, Daniel produced and independently released his first original album, “Escape.” The Florida beach life is heavily reflected in this collection of songs, which is unmistakable in anthems like “Siesta Key” which won first in this year’s song contest (out of 82 entries) and “Sanibel Day which placed eighth.”
“My goal in releasing ‘Escape’ is to provide people with an escape from the stresses of life, because that’s what writing these songs did for me,” Daniel wrote in reference to the project. Whether through his recordings or live performances, Childs’ says the message in his music is of freedom, hope, and a deep love for Florida.
“I wrote “Siesta Key” during a time of intense stress. The job I was working at the time was stressful, and its demanding nature would often leave me unable to feel at ease, even when I went home at night. My only real escape from stress was to explore the beauty of Florida with my wife. When possible, on weekends we would make overnight trips to various places we were interested in. That’s when we discovered the beach town of Siesta Key, and I fell in love with the vibe of the place.
“Siesta Key’ was the first song I completed in that time period, and it’s one of my very favorites to sing. My favorite line in the song is in the second chorus. It says ‘life is crazy, life is short, and life feels wrong… until you find where you belong.’ I think that’s a truth that Siesta Key, Florida helped me realize.”
You can follow Daniel online through Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and his official website at www.danielchildsmusic.com.
Second Place Finisher Chad Spikes
Rosewood
Chad Spikesis a native of Florida whose experience in music is diverse. He has played and performed in bands since the age of 12. He’s spent the last 25 years in American and Bluegrass bands such as Sawgrass Flats and Born Lonesome. He has shared the stage and line-up with national recording acts, performed in various opera roles at FSU, composed and produced the soundtrack for the Emmy Award winning documentary informational film, “Exploration Florida.” Chad says for him music has always been a family affair. Family sing-alongs were a regular feature in his life, exposing him to Doo-Wop, Rock and Roll, Blues, Country, Bluegrass and various other styles of music.
Chad was born and raised in Tallahassee, currently residing in Tampa. His main instruments are guitar and vocal but says he dabbles in mandolin and piano. His second place song in this year’s contest is, “Rosewood.”
“I was inspired to write “Rosewood” to bring this historic event back to light for its 100-year anniversary. I think it’s important we recognize and memorialize those who lost their lives as a result of this horrific tragedy. It’s also important to recognize how far we have come as a nation but not lose sight that we still have a lot of work to do.”
Sarah McCullochis a Country/Americana Singer-Songwriter from Davie, FL. Born in Miami, Sarah was raised in the Big Cypress Swamp in a house her family built with hand milled cypress from her Father’s sawmill. Sarah was homeschooled for most of her formative years and drew songwriting inspiration from her colorful childhood, surrounded by the Seminole Tribe and Florida pioneers.
“My father was a force of nature, he was a pioneer who thought outside the box and was always growing spiritually,” says McCulloch. “He taught me the meaning of hard work and perseverance.”
After living in upstate New York for over a decade McCulloch has returned to her homeland of South Florida.
“Songwriting has been a transformative power for me. It not only helped me heal but transition to a new life. I’m most proud of my Florida songs, “Sugartown,” “Sawmiller’s Daughter” and “29 South.” They were all born out of homesick blues for my home state and have drawn me the most attention . . . . so far. ”
Her album, Sawmiller’s Daughter, produced by Jim Bickerstaff, was entirely written by McCulloch except for, “I’m Just An Old Chunk of Coal” written by legendary outlaw songwriter Billy Joe Shaver. She says it was a labor of love and describes the album as an evocative collection of stories rooted in strength, spirit, and family.
McCulloch’s debut album, Strawberry Moon (2018), gained top recognition as a nominee for Country Album of the Year at the Independent Music Awards in NYC in the Country category, in which McCulloch was the only female artist to be nominated. Her third place song in the this year’s Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest, Sugartown, was written at a time when she was living in a cold northeastern climate and was really missing home.
“Sugartown is about the small town of Clewiston, Florida on the south rim of Lake Okeechobee. I grew up just south of the area in the Everglades but was bussed in to attend school there. I graduated from Clewiston High School and made wonderful lifelong friends and memories there. Sugarcane is the main industry there and this song is also about the community of farmers and hard workers. It’s about the nostalgia I had for my childhood and the people and places I left behind when I moved away. The song is a taste of small town America.”
“My favorite line is “they’re still raisin’ cane there on Friday night, them Okeechobee boys still looking for a fight.” It’s a great line because it can either be about the big Friday night parties we went to, where it wasn’t unusual for a fight to break out. But more commonly that line is associated with Friday night lights high school football, the rival team of Okeechobee coming to play. I have many fond memories of both the football games and the parties after. It was a great time and that town is full of good, hard working people that I have tremendous respect for.”
You can follow Sarah on Facebook at “Sarah McCulloch Music” or on Instagram @sarahmacsongs or Channel, Facebook (Sarah McCulloch Music), Instagram (@sarahmacsongs) and visit www.sarahmacmusic.com.
4th PL “Thousand Mile Walk” by Tom Lubben, Royal Palm Beach, FLTie 5th PL “I Love The Everglades” by Grant Livingston, Miami, FLTie 5th PL “The Music Has A Home” by Mike Worrall, Tampa, FL and Jane Fallon, Dunedin, FLTie 6th PL “Gainesville” by Edan Archer, Orlando, FLTie 6th PL “Florida’s Brigadoon” by Al Scortino, Sebastian, FL and Paul Garfinkel, DeLand, FL7th PL “Hooked On The Easy Life” by Terry Cassidy, Brooksville, FL8th PL “Sanibel Day” by Daniel Childs, Largo, FL9th “Henry and His Railroad” by Terry Cassidy, Brooksville, FL10th “Freedom” by Paul Smithson, Eustis, FL
During the 2022 Will McLean Festival, five-year-old Emeline made her first major stage appearance singing the Will McLean song, “Cryin’ Bird.” It’s a song about Florida’s Limpkin, a bird that has disappeared from many areas of the state because of the loss of the apple snails that they depend on. Emeline has loved this song since she was an infant. She is joined on the Magnolia Stage by her Aunt Jessie Armstrong and a family friend Andy .
Two and a half year old Emeline Floyd joins her Aunt Jessie Armstrong and Uncle Lee Townsend to sing the late Will McLean’s Crying Bird
A favorite Will McLean song is “Cryin’ Bird” about the Florida Limpkin….a bird that has disappeared from many areas of the state because of the loss of the apple snails that they depend on. In this rendition of the song are Emeline Floyd, Jessie Armstrong and Lee Townsend who are helping to keep alive the music of the Father of Florida Folk, Will McLean.
The Florida Limpkin, also known as the “Cryin’ Bird” (Photo by Donna Green-Townsend)
Here are the lyrics to Will McLean’s Cryin’ Bird:
Cryin’ bird, your sad cry
in the night, is a cry of a lost child in fright
Cryin’ bird, are the apple snails gone
from the Wakulla River, from your home
You are sad, soon you’ll fly
far away, from the river you love
where you stay
Cryin’ Bird, as you go
fill the swamp,
with your sweet Limpkin song, Cryin’ Bird
Will McLean wrote hundreds of songs, poems and stories about Florida including, Hold Back the Waters, Seminole, Osceola, The Ballad of the Green Turtle (Conch Island), Tate’s Hell, and many others. Learn more about the Black Hat Troubadour at willmclean.com
