David Futch to host virtual presentation for BGHS this month
STAFF REPORT – The history of Boca Grande is full of stories. Some of them are charming, some funny, some outrageous. David Futch has included many of them in his upcoming memoir/history about Boca Grande to be published soon. Prior to that, though, on Tuesday, Jan.19 he’ll be giving the Boca Grande Historical Society a preview reading of the book’s introduction and a few tidbits of stories and island recipes.
The presentation will be held virtually, on Zoom, at 2 p.m. (Eastern Time). To attend this event, register at website <bocagrandehistoricalsociety.com>, by email to kkyle@leegov.com or by calling the History Center at 964-1600. You will receive the zoom link by email on January 18 after you register.
David is a Florida native descended from families who have been in the United States since 1688, and in Florida since the early 1800s. His great-grandfather, Frank Futch, set foot on Gasparilla Island in 1880, working at Peacon’s Fish Rancho on the north end.
The Futch family have been fishermen, boatmen, privateers and rum runners. David’s father was a member of the Florida Highway Patrol and, later, a banker.
David is a graduate of Clearwater High School, St. Petersburg Junior College and the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
In Boca Grande he was a writer/editor for both the Boca Beacon and the Gasparilla Gazette, and had many articles in Pirate Coast magazine – all while also working as a fishing guide.
In the early 1990s he lived in Alaska and covered the legislature and the governor for the Anchorage Times. Since 2009 he has lived in Los Angeles, working at LA Weekly. He retired in 2015 and has been writing his memoir, which he expects to launch with a Historical Society event in 2022.
Put January 19 on your calendar now and register to receive the Zoom link to listen to David’s stories of Island history.
There will be an opportunity for questions and answers.
