Loren Gerome Brown, nicknamed "Totch", (March 12, 1920 – May 8, 1996) was an author of historical accounts and first-hand descriptions of life in the Florida Everglades. He wrote Totch, A Life in the Everglades. The book describes Floridians survived off the land from the late 1800s until recent times.
His real name and nickname were given to him by a family friend who was the caretaker for the Indiana family's winter home in Florida. At age 13 he quit school to work full-time during the Great Depression. He was a commercial fisherman on the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay, hunted gators, and was an infantryman at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, winning a Bronze Star. He was also a drug runner and did time in prison for tax evasion. His family lives in Chokoloskee.
"While life in the Everglades was no picnic, the privilege of living a free life that close to nature was worth all the hardships that came with it: coping with alligators, panthers, and rattlesnakes on muddy lands filled with poison ivy, spiders, and mosquitoes so thick you could rake `em off your brow by the handful."
References
- "Totch Brown Describes His Life in the Everglades and His Book and Videos".
- ^ Smuggling, gators and the IRS -- a rugged Floridian's life Osceola's History July 24, 2005 by Jim Robison Orlando Sentinel
External links
- Taste of the Everglade, told by Totch Brown on YouTube Videoprojects.tv
- The Sage of Chokoloskee, Totch Brown on YouTube Videoprojects.tv