News Article

Edison professor publishes pair of books on Charlotte County

Mar 31, 2011

PUNTA GORDA – With the release of “Peace River Boundary” in early April, Edison State College professor Dr. Douglas W. Houck will have six book credits to his credit, including a pair pertaining to the history of Charlotte County.

Dr. Houck, an English professor at Edison State and President of the Peace River Center for Writers located on the Charlotte Campus, described the story of war and peace in Southwestern Florida as “fictional history.” His inspiration was spawned during research for his fifth book “Historic Charlotte County; An Illustrated History,” which was released in mid-March.

“Eventually you get into these things and the stories start telling themselves … one kind of spills over into another,” Houck said. “You start something and you say, well that doesn’t really fit right in here but it’s too interesting to let go.”

His latest novel focuses on the Spanish monarchy and its place in Charlotte County’s history, which Houck described as “a unique history characterized by conspiracy, uncertainty, and conflict during a thirty-year period extending from the 1830s to the 1860s.”

While Houck has written historical fiction before, “Peace River Boundary” is his first such work relating to Southwest Florida. The book will soon be available on Amazon.com.

“Historic Charlotte County; An Illustrated History” also is available on Amazon.com for $34.95. Commissioned by the Charlotte County Historical Center Society, Dr. Houck received the editor’s credit with Frank Desguin, Lynn Harrell, Carol Mahler, Dot Minzer, Mary Patterson, Sandra Price, Joyce Schenk and fellow Edison State professor John Pelot acknowledged as contributing writers.

“Historic Charlotte County” depicts the area from as far back as 1512 up to the first decade of the Twenty-First Century and serves as a colorful overview of Charlotte County.

For more information about Edison State College Charlotte Campus please visit www.edison.edu/charlotte or call 941-637-5629.

Celebrating nearly 50 years of excellence, Edison State College is Southwest Florida’s largest, most accessible and most affordable institution of higher education. Proud to be tobacco-free, Edison State serves more than 20,000 students per year in five counties and online.  For more information please visit www.edison.edu.

For media inquiries contact Eric McKinney, Charlotte Campus Public Information Specialist at 941-637-5628 or emckinney@edison.edu.

###

Last Updated: March 31, 2011