Big news, folks. The Florida Historical Society has notified our publisher that "Paving Paradise" has been named the winner of its annual Stetson Kennedy Award.

The award, which is for "books which cast light on historic Florida events in a manner which is supportive of human rights, traditional cultures, or the natural environment," is named for author and Florida icon Stetson Kennedy, friend to Woodie Guthrie and Zora Neale Hurston.

Kennedy, who is still writing at age 93, is the author of such groundbreaking works as "Palmetto Country", "I Rode With the Klan," and "Southern Exposure."

He even ran for governor in 1952 but we won't hold that against him.