Performers, Storytellers, Musicians, Authors
February 2 – 4, 2024
Carl Hiaasen
Headliner
Saturday, February 3 at 7:30 pm
Spend an evening with the person Dave Barry calls “one of South Florida’s most vital natural resources.” Listening to Carl Hiaasen’s powerful convictions about society and the environment, or stories about writing the characters in his bestselling novels, creates an entertaining and utterly hilarious evening.
Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. He has published eleven national bestsellers, including Strip Tease, Stormy Weather, Lucky You, Sick Puppy, Basket Case, Skinny Dip, Nature Girl, Star Island, Bad Monkey, Razor Girl, Squeeze Meand his latest, Wrecker. Hiaasen has also written several popular novels for young readers: His first, Hoot, won a Newbery Honor and was made into a feature film starring Brie Larson, Luke Wilson, and Logan Lerman.
Together, Hiaasen’s books have been published in 34 languages. His nonfiction work has appeared in many magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Time, and Esquire. Hiaasen began writing a regular column for The Miami Herald in 1985, covering everything from local issues like polluted rivers, the criminal justice system, and animal welfare, to national stories like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Trayvon Martin case, Bernie Madoff’s trial, and Florida’s presidential election woes. He has received numerous honors for his incisive journalism and commentary, including three Pulitzer Prize nominations, the Damon Runyon Award from the Denver Press Club, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.
Visit Carl’s website.
Meet the Performers
Sarah Ammar
Island of Stories & Book-signing
Saturday, February 3 at 3 pm
Sarah Ammar is the founder of Rebelle Creative Strategies, a training consultancy that helps clients apply the art (and science) of improvisation to their work
Sarah has been a strategic communications professional for more than 15 years and has performed comedic improv on stage for over a decade. Sarah has performed live and unscripted to sold-out audiences in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and elsewhere.
Visit her website to read about her business, Rebelle Creative Strategies, an event sponsor
Dickie Anderson
Island of Stories & Book-signing
Saturday, February 3 at 3 pm
Dickie Anderson, freelance writer, artist, and community volunteer brings her love of Amelia Island to all she does.
A trained docent at the Amelia Island Museum of History, she authored Great Homes & Churches of Amelia Island. Her weekly column, From the Porch, appears in the Fernandina Beach News Leader. Her articles appear in regional publications and the Amelia Islander magazine. She has been awarded the Golden Palm Award three times by the Florida Writer’s Association, has been a featured author at the Amelia Island Book Festival, and is the book festival’s past Executive Director. She was named Humor Writer of the Month by Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop.
Berta Arias
Island of Stories & Book-signing
Saturday, February 3 at 3 pm
Berta was born in Havana, Cuba, and emigrated with her parents and sister to Chicago, IL.
Berta looks forward to completing her Mango Rain Trilogy in 2024. In retirement on Amelia Island, Berta is deeply involved with the island’s various organizations in the arts, history, and conservation and is excited about being part of the future of the American Beach community. Berta retired as Professor Emerita in Critical Languages and International Education but has always considered herself at her core a writer.
Visit her website to read about her novel, her short stories, her collaboration on the Spanish version of Constitutional Soundbites, and more.
Beverly Davis
Island of Stories & Book-signing
Saturday, February 3 at 3 pm
A published poet and essayist, Beverly has served as a Poetry Editor of Sojourner in Cambridge, Massachusetts, also as an Urban Arts Poet-in-Residence in Boston.
Beverly Smith Davis was the first and only teacher of color hired in Hopkins School District #287 outside of Minneapolis. In 1976 she began teaching English at Brookline High School. Currently, she sits on three boards: two connected to American Beach and the third the Board of Alumni of Truman State University. A member of A.L. Lewis Museum and Amelia Island Museum of History, she volunteers at the former monthly and twice a week at America’s Youth.
Marsha Dean Phelts
Island of Stories & Book-signing
Saturday, February 3 at 3 pm
Marsha Dean Phelts is a fifth generation Floridian, having spent her life in Jacksonville and American Beach.
Marsha enjoyed a rewarding career as a librarian and has been dedicated to community service with a lifetime of involvement in local, state, national, and international organizations. Settling in the fourth quarter of her life, she is active with Jacksonville Sister Cities Association/Nelson Mandela Bay Committee and is chair of the Library Project. With support from local authors, book stores, and area publishers, more than 10,000 books and materials have been donated to Sister Cities libraries in South Africa, China, South Korea, Jamaica, Haiti and Brazil.
Diane Johnson
Tea & Tales with Harriett Tubman
Friday, February 2 at 3 pm
Diane Ford-Holt Johnson has been a freelance performer, presenter, and group facilitator more than 30 years.
A proud member of the Peck Community Ensemble and the NATROM Band, she has appeared in churches, community and civic centers, elementary schools, and public libraries throughout Northeast and Central Florida. She is a retired public library manager and a passionate church and community servant. Johnson is married to Derryl, and together they share six adult children and three grandchildren.
MIchael Reno Harrell
Friday, February 2 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 3 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, February 4 at 12:30 pm
“Michael Reno Harrell is one of those natural born Southern musicians and storytellers who is filled with wit, charm and surprises. Whether the story is in song or narrative, Michael will draw you in and entertain you, all the while making you feel right at home.” David Holt, 4-time Grammy Winner.
Michael Reno Harrell’s natural knack for storytelling comes as a direct result of where he is from, the Southern Appalachian Mountains where storytelling is as much a part of the culture as its music. His original stories and songs intertwine seamlessly into narratives that demonstrate that we all share common emotions and experiences and that nothing brings us together like a good laugh or a touch of nostalgia.
Visit Michael’s website to read more about his storytelling adventures, see some of his artwork and more.
Jarrett Hill
Island of Stories & Book-signing
Saturday, February 3 at 3 pm
Jarrett Hill is the Curator at the Amelia Island Museum of History.
Jarrett has been a museum storyteller since he led his first tour in Orlando a decade ago and continues to bring artifacts, research, and performance together to create engaging museum experiences for all ages.
Chip Kirkpatrick
Island of Stories & Book-signing
Saturday, February 3 at 3 pm
Chip Kirkpatrick is a life-long resident of NE Florida. He does historical metal detecting in the area, offering his finds to schools, museums, and libraries and serves as a docent at the Amelia Island Museum of History.
Sean McCarthy
Friday, February 2 at 7:30 pm
Sean McCarthy is the founder, front man, and lead vocalist of southern coastal group, Sean McCarthy Band.
Sean is also a songwriter, producer and record label head. McCarthy was born in Gloucester, MA and raised in Fernandina Beach, FL. In 1983, McCarthy moved to Nashville to be closer to country music’s epicenter. He started out playing at The Bluebird Cafe and Douglas Corner Cafe. Following this move, McCarthy combined country, bluegrass, and tropical with coastal lyrical themes. McCarthy uses the term “Coastal Country” to describe his musical style. He has released three studio albums and performs along Florida’s coasts, where he gets inspiration for many of his songs.
Visit Sean’s website to read more about his band and other adventures.
Bob Patterson
Friday, February 2 at 7:30 pm
Bob Patterson is a Florida Folk music icon. He has recorded 10 albums and has published three books.
Bob is an environmentalist and serves as spokesperson for protecting the wild heart of Florida. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Storytelling Association and the Fellow Man and Mother Earth Award from the Stetson Kennedy Foundation. He is an inaugural inductee in the St Augustine Music Hall of Fame. Bob is co-founder of the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival.
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Shana Smith
Friday, February 2 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 3 at 10:30 am
Shana Smith became nationally known as “Shana Banana” and earned a reputation as one of today’s top children’s entertainers, with a voice that delves into blues, jazz, folk, and spiritual music as well.
Performing at major festivals, schools, libraries, and performing arts centers across the U.S., she has earned many prestigious awards. She has stayed close to her love of the environment and her home state of Florida by writing songs and programs for both children and adults. Shana is also the author of two books, with another on the way. Her most recent novel, Island of Cedars, won the Ensley Developing Writer Award.
Visit Shana’s website. Read more about her books here.
Paul Strickland
Friday, February 2 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 3 at 1 pm
Sunday, February 4 at 12:30 pm
Paul Strickland is a multi-award-winning storyteller and musician from Kentucky. His stories and songs are always a touch surreal but always find a way to touch the heart.
Adept at adapting to whatever listeners are in front of him, Paul has told stories Off-Broadway, with Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, and as a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival, but even more importantly at elementary schools, libraries, living rooms, and even two prisons – where he was NOT an inmate at the time.
Visit Paul’s website.
Kim Weitkamp
Friday, February 2 at 7:30 pm
The Tongue and Pen: A Workshop for Writers
Friday, February 2 at 10 am
Sunday, February 4 at 12:30 pm
“If we are talking Rock ‘n Roll, Tina Turner was a national treasure; country has Dolly Parton and in the world of storytelling we have Kim Weitkamp.” Steve Perry from Highway 89- SiriusXM