Kissimmee, Gateway to the Kissimmee River Valley

The Making of America Series
Donated by the author, Jim Robison

"This book strives to provide readers with insights into Kissimmee's early families."

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About the Author
(by the author)

My great-grandfather, John Randolph Robison, was a farmer and carpenter in North Florida during the mid-1800s. My two grandchildren carry the Florida family into the sixth generation.

While getting my bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Florida, I also studied the history of the South from the antebellum years through Reconstruction. I was a reporter and editor in Central Florida for about 30 years. My main interest during that time and continuing now that I've retired from daily journalism is the state's history. Since April 1988, I have been writing a weekly history column called Seminole's Past. In May 1993, I added a weekly history of Osceola County. And, for many years, until just recently, I edited Joy Wallace Dickinson's Florida Flashback column of Orange County history. With colleague Mark Andrews, I published my first book, "Flashbacks, the Story of Central Florida's Past," in 1995. It covers the stories of Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties from the first Floridians through the opening of Walt Disney World. I've also published five other books on local history. I ghost wrote for Altermese Smith Bentley's book "Seminole County," which covers the historic black communities of Seminole County for Arcadia's Black America series. Working with local historical societies and Arcadia's Images of America series, I also have published city photo histories on Longwood, Altamonte Springs and St. Cloud. My latest book, "Kissimmee, Gateway to the Kissimmee River Valley," is a more text-driven book on the river through Arcadia's Making of America series. I'm working on a similar book on the Wekiva River. I'm also working on two historic novels set in Florida and a biography of a black Confederate soldier. After nearly 30 years in daily journalism, I stepped back from news editing/reporting to become a freelance historian and speaker. In 2004, I won the Golden Quill Award from the Florida Historical Society. In addition, the society also awarded its Hampton Dunn Award to the Orlando Sentinel for the history columns by my colleague, Joy Wallace Dickinson, and me.

I try to do a lot of local talks at schools, historical societies and other interested groups. I was the keynote speaker at the 2004 conference of the Florida State Genealogical Society in Melbourne.

Jim Robison can be reached at jimrobison@cfl.rr.com