I Declare! A Collection of Editorial Commentaries by Malcolm B. Johnson. Compiled by Ray Reynolds.

Signed and inscribed by the Author. Octavo, turquoise boards (hardcover), silver letters, 248 pp. Fine in a Very Good, mylar protected dust jacket with edgewear. From dust jacket: Bankers and preachers were barred from public office by Florida's first constitution. Florida waters and shores survived one of the world's most massive oil spills. Why the capital was put in Tallahassee. How a nocturnal spider dismantles and hauls in its web. Florida once had a candidate for governor who made no campaign speeches -- because he couldn't talk. Such are some of the items you will find in this book, gleaned from several thousand columns and other commentaries by Malcolm B. Johnson, who retired in 19 ? as editor of the Tallahassee Democrat after 43 years of newspapering in Florida. Most of them appeared under the familiar logo in the left column of the Democrat's front page. Some appeared as Sunday columns on the editorial page. Johnson's commentaries, spawned from notes taken on the writing arm of his antique rocking chair, ranged from the trivial to the transcendental -- from oddities of nature (human and otherwise) to serious essays on religion and constitutional government, with recollections of people and events that shaped the destiny of Florida during the middle half of the 20th century and before. With one exception, Johnson has known and talked with every governor of Florida in this century, or with someone intimately connected with him. Johnson's knowledge, his wit, and his bombast helped shape public policy and public opinion in the Capital and throughout the area. His love and knowledge of nature inspired an appreciation for North Florida's natural beauty. Florida, Floridiana, Florida History, Biography, Americana, American History, U.S.-iana. zslic.…