Totch: A Life in the Everglades
SKU: 77992936959

Totch: A Life in the Everglades

Sale price$16.79 Regular price$18.66
Save 10%

Shipping Estimate
USA
  • USA
  • CAN

Ships within 48 hours ยท Estimated delivery Jul 7 - Jul 12

Promo Codes Available:

For Your Every Summer RSVP, with Code: SUMMER15

Description

Totch: A Life in the Everglades"Totch Brown's memoirs of vanished days in the Ten Thousand Islands and the Everglades the last real frontier in Florida, and even today the greatest roadless wilderness in the United States are invaluable as well as vivid and entertaining, for Totch is a natural born story teller, and his accounts of fishing and gator hunting as well as his life beyond the law as gator poacher and drug runner are evocative and colorful, fresh and exciting." from the

"Totch Brown's memoirs of vanished days in the Ten Thousand Islands and the Everglades--the last real frontier in Florida, and even today the greatest roadless wilderness in the United States--are invaluable as well as vivid and entertaining, for Totch is a natural-born story-teller, and his accounts of fishing and gator hunting as well as his life beyond the law as gator poacher and drug runner are evocative and colorful, fresh and exciting."--from the foreword by Peter Matthiessen

In the mysterious wilderness of swamps, marshes, and rivers that conceals life in the Florida Everglades, Totch Brown hung up his career as alligator hunter and commercial fisherman to become a self-confessed pot smuggler. Before the marijuana money rolled in, he survived excruciating poverty in one of the most primitive and beautiful spots on earth, Chokoloskee Island, in the mangrove keys known as the Ten Thousand Islands located at the western gateway to the Everglades National Park.

Until he wrote this memoir--recollections from his childhood in the twenties that merge with reflections on a way of life dying at the hands of progress in the nineties--Totch had never read a book in his life. Still, his writing conveys the tension he experienced from trying to live off the land and within the laws of the land.

Told with energy and authenticity, his story begins with the handful of souls who came to the area a hundred years ago to homestead on the high ground formed from oyster mounds built and left by the Calusa Indians. They lived close to nature in shacks built of tin or palmetto fans; they ate wild meat, Chokoloskee chicken (white ibis), swamp cabbage, even--when they were desperate--manatee; and they weathered all manner of natural disaster from hurricanes to swarms of "swamp angels" (mosquitoes). In his grandpa's day, Totch writes, outlaws and cutthroats would "shoot a man down just as quick as they'd knock down an egret, especially if he came between them and the plume birds."

His grandparents were both contemporaries of Ed J. Watson, the subject of Peter Matthiessen's best-selling Killing Mr. Watson, and Totch is featured in the recent award-winning PBS film Lost Man's River: An Everglades Adventure with Peter Matthiessen. He also appeared in Wind Across the Everglades, the 1957 Budd Schulberg movie in which Totch and Burl Ives sing some of Totch's Florida cracker songs.


Loren G. "Totch" Brown was born in Chokoloskee, Florida, in 1920. After purchasing his first motorboat at the age of thirteen (and retiring from formal schooling after the seventh grade) he worked as an alligator hunter, commercial fisherman, crabber, professional guide, poacher, marijuana runner, singer, and songwriter.



Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Published: 09/20/1993
ISBN: 9780813012285
Pages: 279
Weight: 0.97lbs
Size: 9.02h x 6.10w x 0.82d

Review Citations: Booklist 12/01/1993 pg. 672
Shipping Notes
  • Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
  • Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
  • Delivery to the USA:
  1. Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
  • If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
  • We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
  • Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
  • To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
  • Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
SKU: 77992936959

Discover Niche Categories That Outsell

Top-Converting Item to Boost Your Average Order

4.6 โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…
Based on 1728 reviews
Sort
Highest Rating
Newest First
Oldest First
Product Reviews
A
Verified Purchase
alessa
Port Orchard, US
โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… 5
Great value, great product!
I use this as a home jewelry box - I don't wear a lot of jewelry, so it fits my needs perfectly. Its pretty lightweight and would be good for travels as well. The outside is leather-like and seems to be waterproof so far. I use the first layer for jewelery and second layer to store my hairclips and pins. I've had it for a few months and it seems to be great quality and durable! Definitely a good value as well because I've seen similar jewelry boxes sold at popular retail stores for over $30.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2026
M
Verified Purchase
Marie
Natrona Heights, US
โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… 5
Lovely Slate Gray Jewelry Box
I just received this Slate Gray jewelry box. It's really quite lovely and just the right size for my granddaughter's vanity. I'm really excited about giving it to her, for her 12th Birthday, to hold her better jewelry. It's so nice I'm going to order another one for my other Granddaughter's Birthday.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2025
C
Verified Purchase
Cathy D.
Belleville, US
โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… 5
Songmics Slate Gray Travel Jewelry Box
I purchased the slate gray Songmics jewelry box for travel purposes. We take long vacations and have an upcoming 20 day cruise. I wanted a jewelry box that was compact enough to put in my carry-on bag, but still had room to hold a months worth of jewelry, especially to keep my necklaces for tangling. When this arrived, I was pleasantly surprised and the packaging was great, shipped in a sturdy box. so no damage to the jewelry box. The color is a rich gray and the 2 tier box, while small, holds a lot of jewelry. I wanted to purchase the ink black but could not justify paying twice the price of the gray one just to get it in black. It is small enough that it will fit in most any hotel/ship safe so I won't be sitting out in the room anyway. It has a strong magnetic snap that keeps the box from opening while in transit. The one negative for me is that the pierced earring card is so thick that my earrings barely go through to have enough room on the back side the slip the backs on. I may separate the double thick card, realizing it will not look as nice but will be more functional. The bottom half of the box will hold bracelets up to 1 1/4" wide. There is enough room under the earrings card to place pendants, additional earrings, etc. The necklace holder is designed to hold 5 necklaces, but I added one more by going across the top, end to end, to prevent tangling. I also placed smaller hoop earrings in the ring holder which holds them securely. This box held 7 bracelets, 2 of which were wide, 5 rings, 9 necklaces (I placed 3 in the bottom of the box, and had room for 23 pair of earrings (some placed in the ring holder and in the bottom of the bo)! I would buy this again in a heartbeat.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2025
S
Verified Purchase
Stephanie
Grantham, US
โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… 4
Nice jewelry box
The jewelry box is nicer than expected! Just wish it was a little bigger, but ok for traveling.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2025
P
Verified Purchase
Peggy
Bozeman, US
โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… 5
Great product
Great little jewelry box better than I thought and holds so much also came with an earring holder will buy again.!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2025

recommand products