Reading, writing on Longboat Key

KAREN O’DOWD
Contributing Columnist
odowd@lbknews.com

Terry Griffin earned his Coast Guard captain’s license when he retired from practicing law just because it was on his “bucket list.” He owns a 28-foot Grady White fishing boat but doesn’t fish—he just loves boating. Griffin first began coming to Longboat Key by boat with his family when his three children were young. He now lives part of the time in Maitland and part of the time on Longboat Key.

“As a trial lawyer I practiced law in Orlando, but spent as much time as possible at my home on Longboat Key,” said Griffin.

Since retiring, he has been writing a mystery series set in the barrier islands off the southwest coast of Florida between Tampa and Naples. The plots involve many familiar landmarks on Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island such as Patti Georges, Rotten Ralph’s, The Dry Dock, Bridge Tender, The Hilton, Sand Bar and nearby Starfish Grill in Cortez, to name just a few. Perhaps one day there will be tour busses with guides pointing out sites mentioned in his books?

Now that he has retired, Matt Royal, the “hero” of his mystery novels, is also a retired lawyer. Many of the characters in his books are based on real Longboat residents or longtime friends.

“I decided to set the Matt Royal series on these coastal islands because of their beauty, their people and their laidback lifestyles. I’m convinced that those who inhabit Longboat Key and the nearby islands are among the best folks in the world. I hope I do them justice in my books, because I know if I don’t, they’ll let me hear about it. Isn’t that what friends are for,” he states on his Web site.

Griffin was born in Waycross, Ga., in 1942, but was raised in Sanford, Fla., where his parents were sharecroppers. His dad grew up in a family of sharecroppers near Plant City, Fla., and held a number of low-paying jobs during Griffin’s childhood. The family endured hard times, which, as an author, he draws upon in some of the flashback scenes in his works. A lover of history—he had almost completed his master’s coursework in history at the University of Central Florida while he practiced law—he intertwines the history of the Black Seminoles in Florida with murder and mystery on Longboat Key in his newest book, “Bitter Legacy.”

So what is fact and what is fiction in “Bitter Legacy?” He said Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island sites are always real locations, but others can be fictional. Sometimes he even uses real names. He clears up historical facts in his Afterword but says, “Longboat seems to have about one homicide every 10 years, so I have to manufacture some murders and create some bad people.”

A re-occurring character, Jock, is based on a lifelong friend nicknamed Jock, his best buddy growing up, who died of brain cancer this summer.

“He will live on in my books as long as I am writing them,” said Griffin.

“Bitter Legacy” is dedicated to his friend.

In 1960, at the age of 17, H. Terrell Griffin began a three-year stint in the U.S. Army as a medic in the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment and was stationed near the East German border. His “shock troop” army unit was known as “the point of the spear” ready to be the first to take the hit if war broke out.

“I was there when the Berlin Wall went up,” Griffin said, “then returned to the U.S. to attend Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.”

He and his wife, Jean, have been married 46 years and have three children and two grandchildren.

“A voracious reader, I have always wanted to write and had notebooks filled with word sketches of things that I have experienced in the Army, in college and in my law career,” he said.

When he retired, he finally had time to write for the first time in his life.

“My wife told me that if I was ever going to write the book I’d been talking about since we first met in college, I’d better do it. No more excuses.”

After attending the very first “Mystery Florida!” writing conference, he was encouraged by the authors telling budding writers to “just do it.” And so he did.

“I am not a disciplined writer at all,” Griffin said. “Trial lawyers are very disciplined, but this kind of writing is fun. I write when the spirit moves me. I write in spurts, and let it sit—sometimes for a month.”

A friend says Terry has two speeds: “All ahead full, and dead stop.”

Everything is done electronically now. His manuscripts are written on the computer in Word, sent to the publisher via e-mail and must be submitted 15-18 months before the publication date. He is has now published five mysteries with another manuscript already in the hands of his publisher, Longboat Key’s Oceanview Publishing.

Griffin will be signing books Nov. 29, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Circle Books, an excellent time for autographs, photos and chit chat.

“At the book signings, please come up and talk. I enjoy conversation with fellow book lovers, and it is fun going to these places.”

For more information, visit www.hterrellgriffin.com. To be included in an upcoming Writers’ Roundtable on Longboat Key, send an email to kko2637@hotmail.com.