Redneck Riviera: Armadillos, Outlaws, and the Demise of an American Dream

Redneck Riviera: Armadillos, Outlaws, and the Demise of an American Dream

BY DENNIS COVINGTON

(COUNTERPOINT, $25)

"My father was color blind. He couldn't tell the difference between certain shades of red and green...So Dad ran red lights all the way to Florida." Thus begins the author's latest work, which focuses on his trials and obsessions in attempting to claim a tract of land purchased in the 1960s by his father.

Forced into early retirement from U.S. Steel, the elder Covington searched for a dream, which appeared in the form of a Florida development called River Ranch Acres. When Sam dies, he leaves his dream-a piece of Florida-to Dennis. But the road to River Ranch Acres proves bumpy. The undeveloped land remains controlled by the dark and dangerous Hunt Club, which prevents landowners from claiming acreage.

This nonfiction story, which follows one man's sense of familial responsibility, will strike a familiar chord with many Southerners. WANDA MCKINNEY

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2004
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