Image courtesy of PickPic, Creative Commons license
On Sunday, Mom and I went to a garage sale at the Murder House. “Murder House” is how the neighborhood describes the residence at 11 Pryor Road in Fort Walton Beach. Last month, William Butler snapped and stabbed his wife… READ MORE
The author went to the Choctaw-Fort Walton Beach game in 2022 and snapped this photo as the Indians came onto the field. Image courtesy of Del Stone Jr.
I haven’t been to a high school football game in years. I don’t remember who won. I don’t remember caring. I know people hereabouts take their high school football seriously, and that’s fine. I take my NFL football seriously, despite… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Jernej Furman. — Two 84-year-olds were found dead in Destin not long ago. They were a couple. The woman was under hospice care. The man called lawmen and said something about suicides. Both were found with gunshot… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Del Stone Jr.
I don’t know that I’ve ever written a cross word about Peter Bos. I’m not about to start now. He’s a businessman, and a pretty good one at that. He’s doing what businessmen do – making money. He has made… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Dori by way of a Creative Commons license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Dori
I saw something on my walk today I think would make an awesome story, maybe a fable. Here goes: Once upon a time there was a lonely little hawk. The hawk was lonely because every time he flew to a… READ MORE
Workers begin the process of tearing down the Docie Bass Recreation Center at Ferry Park. Image courtesy of Del Stone Jr.
The gym at Ferry Park is going away and I’m a little sad about that. I don’t fault the city for tearing it down. The building was old and lacked air conditioning. It cost a fortune to operate. Still, there’s… READ MORE
In 1964 the beach along Okaloosa Island was mostly free of condos and other buildings. This photo was taken from the Okaloosa Island fishing pier. Image courtesy of Del Stone Sr.
When it comes to the history of Fort Walton Beach, I have an unfair advantage. Not only have I lived here a long time, but my mother’s family, the Readys, moved to the area in the 1930s. On lazy Sunday… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Enviornment American Research & Policy Center by way of a Creative Commons license
Confession: A couple of weeks ago I committed the high crime of sharing a photo to the job’s Facebook page of a young girl feeding a Goldfish cracker to a seagull. You would have thought I had nominated Charles Manson… READ MORE
My 1987 Nissan Pulsar is parked in front of my old townhouse, Unit 3F at 215 Hughes Avenue in Fort Walton Beach behind Uptown Station. I lived there 24 years. Image by Del Stone Jr.
I’m gone from the townhouse. It was a sad moment. I spent the morning hauling boxes of books and photo albums from the upstairs bedroom, what was once my office where I wrote “Dead Heat,” “Black Tide” and “I Feed… READ MORE
My final memory of that training day – Saturday, May 26, 1979 – was Jim Shoffner handing me a fat three-ring binder to study. It was the instruction manual for the ECRM 7600 (today they’re in PDF form online and… READ MORE