Reviews
"as important as it is fascinating. Not only does it serve as a vehicle for Simmons' wonderful stories of the virgin Everglades, but the book, co-authored by anthropologist Laura Ogden, documents the lost culture of the men and women who made their lives in Florida's famously inhospitable swamp."
--Lake City Reporter
"South Florida's nearly gone Everglades pioneers . . . suffered almost as much as the Everglades from land booms and busts but did so with an unsentimental, self-effacing grace."
"Much of their guts and ingenuity is captured in Gladesmen: Gator Hunters, Moonshiners and Skiffers, the third volume of a series devoted to Florida's history and culture. The book is a labor-of-love memoir by Simmons, born in 1916 in a one-room cabin in Homestead, and anthropologist Laura Ogden, daughter of Everglades National Park ornithologist John Ogden."
"Storms will always come and go in South Florida, but the hardy, brave people Simmons celebrates came only once. Theirs was a special time."
--Miami Herald
"Glen Simmons is South Florida's Davy Crockett: king of its wild frontier, the Everglades."
"While Marjory Stoneman Douglas' famous 1947 prose poem, The Everglades: River of Grass, soars aloof above the 'vast, glittering wilderness,' Simmons thrusts you into the razory sawgrass where you can feel the swarming mosquitoes landing on your face."
"The book is an homage to the rugged 'swamp rats' who were largely overlooked or scorned by the region's historians, naturalists, and adventurers."
--Miami Herald
"There aren't many men who have lived a life like Glen Simmons. But when your home is a million acres unlike any other land in the world, then a unique life is easy to understand."
"Gladesmen is the story of his life in the Everglades fromthe 1920s to the 1960s. . . . Written largely in his own words, this captivating book recalls the days not too long ago when the Everglades was a frontier." -- The Orlando Sentinel
--Orlando Sentinel
"We Floridians sometimes enjoy imagining what our state was like before development, traffic and overpopulation ruined so much of its beauty. We long for the simple life of pioneers and wonder how we would manage 'living off the land.'"
"This book serves as a slap in the face of such fantasy. Born in the Everglades in 1916, Glen Simmons sets the record straight.
'We was so poor we didn't even have roaches.'
Simmons was a fisher, trapper, hunter, tick eradicator, alligator poacher and boat builder. He preferred being known as a 'gladesman.' What an interesting book he has fashioned with the help of anthropologist Laura Ogden."
"Simmons' fascinating book allows us a safe visit into the Everglades of harsh yesteryears. Most of us wouldn't want to live there." -- St. Petersburg Times
--St. Petersburg Times
"It is difficult to believe, but there was a time when South Florida was not populated with Rust Belt retirees, packed with strip malls, and landscaped like the world's largest golf course. . . . This book is part of a series designed to preserve Florida's history, and Simmons contributes admirably. Lay readers will appreciate his work, but it will be of particular interest to ecologists, conservationists, and even hunters and fishers."
-- Publishers Weekly
--Publishers Weekly
"Glen Simmons tells us that he is no hero, but he is the stuff of Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett, Jim Bridger, and Alfred Wallace."
"Set against the Everglades environment filled with colorful place names and exotic wildlife, you'll discover memorable characters scratching out a meager living under the Florida sun." -- Florida Frontier Gazette
--Florida Frontier Gazette
"A well-crafted work that documents an aspect of Florida history and culture of which far too little has been written. . . . A fully annotated, solid piece of scholarship that is alive with South Florida history and spiced with Simmons' understated humor and world view." -- Folk Winds
--Folk Winds - Florida Folklore Society
"Simmons and Ogden have prevented a seemingly forgotten cultural tradition from disappearing into the dustbin of history. By doing so, Gladesmen has achieved a major goal of the Florida History and Culture Series -- that is, it promotes a richer understanding of the state's history. Series editors Gary R. Mormino and Raymond Arsenault, as well as the Press, all warrant praise for making this refreshing book possible. It is worthy of, and will find, a wide audience." -- Florida Historical Quarterly
--Florida Historical Quarterly
"Glen Simmons is Florida's answer to Huckleberry Finn. Gladesmen: Gator Hunters, Moonshiners, and Skiffers records his memories of wild times and manly freedom in the Florida Everglades. Packed with honesty and humor, Gladesmen is a delightful environmental memoir. . . . It is a valuable edition to a Florida history collection and a fine addition to the new Florida History and Culture Series." -- Georgia Historical Quarterly
--Georgia Historical Quarterly