"Roaring Reptiles, Bountiful Citrus, and Neon Pies" an unofficial guide to Florida's unofficial symbols, By Mark Lane.

Full of the kind of unnecessary commentary that might cause trouble, as Lane describes it, this book is written with affection toward the wide diversity of lives and experiences that make up the state he calls home. He shows that deciding the things that represent us at any given moment is far trickier than it appears. Especially in Florida, a state aptly symbolized by “a lot of contradictions baked into a Key lime pie.”

Mark Lane has worked for The Daytona Beach News-Journal since 1980 as a reporter, copy editor, editorial writer, associate editor, and columnist. He retired in 2022 and still writes a once-a-week column and freelances. His book on Florida symbols, “Roaring Reptiles, Bountiful Citrus, and Neon Pies,” was published in 2019 by the University Press of Florida and won the Florida Historical Society’s 2019 Charlton Tebeau Book Award.