The Hillsborough River

I just completed reading River of the Golden Ibis and did not have time to write a book review because I didn't have patience.  I wasn't patient enough to go through the steps of my normal book review process.  I simply had to shout out about this book!

I first learned of River of the Golden Ibis from the folks at Canoe Escape.  We had canoed a few times down the Hillsborough River and the need to know more about its history got the better of me.  Canoe Escape mentions that the book is out of print but I found a used copy online.

Gloria Jahoda, the author, begins the book when Florida was still under water, millions and millions of years ago.  She takes the reader through the development of the Tampa Bay region to 1972.  The book was published in 1973.  I mention that Gloria takes the reader...I do her more injustice than is humanly possible.  River of the Golden Ibis is a spectacular piece of non-fiction that struts down the runway in a cloak of fiction.

My copy of the book is old, yellowed and musty smelling.  Read: delicious.  I made the following inscription on the last page this morning:

Odd that I marvel at this book.  It's an old and weathered time transporter that has sat untouched on a library shelf for thirty-six years.  As I fondle the yellowed pages and breathe in the page's mustiness, I think, this book is ancient.  River of the Golden Ibis was published two years after Led Zeppelin released Stairway to Heaven. 

Hmmm, wonder who is feeling ancient now?

If you live in the Tampa Bay area and are the least bit curious about its origins, River of the Golden Ibis is a must read!