Book excerpt: Tales of the Suwannee River Country, a collection of twenty-six stories and essays, traces the personal journey of Emily B. Curtis, who grew up in North Florida during the Great Depression. As a shy young writer and pianist, Emily led a life of poetry and music and later became a teacher. Her father, a local attorney, defended the victims of shootings in the region, which introduced Emily to the world's evils, and ultimately taught her powerful lessons about life. From stories about small town American life in the South, to regional history and fiction, Tales of the Suwannee River Country will take you back in time to when the world was simpler and more secure.