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A Memoir
Largely set in Pinellas and Manatee counties, the author relives moments of a boyhood spent growing up in the 1950's and 1960's on a ranch in a rural, Cracker-cowboy environment, learning life lessons and finding solace in the natural world.
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Growing Up Floridian inspired Natalie, a two volume novel based on the real life experiences of Natalie Gray from 1943 through 1964.

Natalie's Cowboy >
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Honoring the Blackstones…
On May 13, 2019, Manatee County Agricultural Museum offered a post on their Facebook page honoring Faye Blackstone. This year the museum...
taylorm94
May 16, 20225 min read
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A flash of pink…
Lynn’s latest watercolor. Seeing a flash of pink in the shadows along the bank of Gamble Creek startled me. Heavy strands of Spanish moss...
taylorm94
Feb 20, 20224 min read
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Gulfport Gabber interview/article
Article https://thegabber.com/gulfport-author-tells-his-rodeo-mamas-story/
taylorm94
Jan 26, 20221 min read
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taylorm94
Jan 26, 20220 min read
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Natalie’s songtrack…
Natalie, like most people in the pre and post WWII era, grew up listening to radio broadcasts as a primary source of entertainment. The...
taylorm94
Jan 15, 20223 min read
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Silver dollar memories…
Until I went through my mother’s keepsakes after she passed away in April of 2013, I had not realized she kept the first silver dollars I...
taylorm94
Jan 9, 20224 min read
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“Blackbird singing in the dead of night…”
When I first heard “Blackbird” on an AM radio station in 1969, I focused on the birdsong in the background at the end of the tune. I did...
taylorm94
Jan 4, 20222 min read
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Dragonflies…
What we, as humans, do not know about dragonflies, which have been around for more than 300 million years is substantial. According to an...
taylorm94
Dec 18, 20212 min read
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Gamble Creek
An original wooden bridge over Gamble’s Creek spanned the tannin stained waters for thirty years or so before I moved on to the Quarter...
taylorm94
Dec 14, 20212 min read
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Tiny falcon…
My wife’s recent watercolor of an American Kestrel encouraged me to take a new look at the bird and recall my first childhood...
taylorm94
Dec 13, 20212 min read
26 views
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Creating prose poetry from a memoir text…
When Peter Hargitai offered the following brief review, Michael is the author of a fine memoir, Growing Up Floridian.. His lyrical...
taylorm94
Dec 7, 20213 min read
22 views
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Revisiting a review of Growing Up Floridian from 2017…
Sh*t my mom read: Growing Up Floridian by Michael Taylor Short blurbs about books that you may want to read. None of them are too taxing...
taylorm94
Dec 7, 20212 min read
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Tangible hardback copies!
My three books, Growing Up Floridian, Natalie, A New England Girl with Cowboy Dreams and Natalie’s Dreams Take a Tropical Twist are now...
taylorm94
Nov 22, 20211 min read
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Hardback editions are published and available!
Growing Up Floridian Growing Up Floridian is a personal memoir that relives moments of a boy who grew up in the 1950's and 1960's...
taylorm94
Oct 24, 20211 min read
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Natalie’s image
The March 6, 1954 Saturday Evening Post cover by Norman Rockwell, “The Girl in the Mirror” sent my mother looking through her photo album...
taylorm94
Oct 22, 20212 min read
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Growing UP Floridian
Growing Up Floridian is a personal memoir about me growing up in 1950’s and 1960’s Florida and learning life lessons in a rural...
taylorm94
Oct 21, 20211 min read
27 views
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