Michael Lister is one of a kind, a Renaissance man and wordsmith that make him a county asset.
A series of mystery novels, screenplays, plays, short stories and essays, Lister not only writes in those genres, he excels, providing for readers words that engage, words that offer a reader a glimpse into their own world.
And Lister is generous with his talent.
Last year, as economic times toughened, Lister donated some 1,000 copies of his books to any interested reader.
His Tupelo Theater offers a showcase for local talent and films, such as tonight when the theater will host an environmental film festival. He also holds an annual writing workshop to promote and engage local writers.
This is a man who follows a muse, yes, but also his heart, in his writing and in his actions.
This Saturday, at Gaskin Park, he will officially launch his new book, Double Exposure, which represents a significant departure from his John Jordan mystery series.
Lister calls the book his best to date.
And he will be donating all profits from the book to conservation efforts in the area.
There is a reason.
Double Exposure is primarily set in the swamps of North Florida, where the protagonist has, after life events, most particularly the death of his father, altered his course, returned to an early love, wildlife photography.
In doing so, the main character becomes enmeshed in a murder mystery, but more importantly he finds himself facing his own mortality and pondering life and all its meaning.
“It’s a literary thriller,” Lister said. “It is not your traditional murder mystery, but it also deals with the mysteries of life.”
But this slim volume of just over 200 pages represents an achievement for the author that will pay off handsomely for the reader.
Photography, the snapshots of time, feed the prose, which, in short bursts, fills in the blanks of Remington James’ life, world, mind and soul.
The succinct prose, the absence of much punctuation calls to mind several prominent authors, including Cormac McCarthy.
“That is a high compliment,” Lister said. “I didn’t necessarily want the prose to be spare, but I wanted the punctuation to be spare,” he added, noting it was a product of the writing style he adopted for his latest book and the look of the printed story on the page.
That style is one of the reasons that Lister labels Double Exposure his best, which will be published by Tyrus Books of Madison, WI.
“I’m really pleased with the stylistic achievement,” Lister said. “It is the next step for me.
“The subject matter lent itself to the style. It is almost impressionism through content.”
The story jumps from third person narration to first person flashbacks of James’ time on earth, his contemplation of what this life is all about, his memories and how the world and the events in his life have shaped him.
“It says a lot of things I wanted to say, about the meaning of life, meditation, how events shape lives,” Lister said.
Lister said the book started with a simple image.
“That image was this ghastly image of those green-hued photographs that a wildlife photographer would capture, particularly at night or around dusk,” Lister said.
From there it was a matter of decoding a story in his mind and on paper and adopting a style that would fit that image.
Those often ghostly images of wildlife permeate the story, and some frames that James captures ultimately set in motion a murder mystery which threads its way through James’ meditations on his life in the novel.
Those frames bring danger and lead to the circumstances in which James must take stock of himself while saving himself.
While Lister perceives the book as a literary evolution of sorts, and Double Exposure is a unique writing achievement, he somehow pulls off a story that is also an action adventure.
“I try to tell an entertaining and suspenseful story that will leave the reader thinking,” Lister said.
In January, after the book had already been submitted to his publisher, Lister had a brainstorm while preparing lunch in his kitchen.
Recalling the Christmas book giveaway, Lister wanted to donate the profits from Double Exposure to conserving the very lands that provide the setting for the novel, the Apalachicola River basin and its swamps and sloughs.
His protagonist is fighting to survive in the book; Lister is trying to ensure the landscape surrounding James for much of the novel also survives.
His editor agreed to the idea, the publisher was on board and Lister’s agent made it unanimous.
“This whole thing is just unique,” Lister said.
The launch party will be held from 4-6 p.m. CT on Sept. 5 at Gaskin Park in Wewahitchka, a great launching spot to see the Apalachicola River and therefore an appropriate spot for launching a book in which the river plays an important role.
And for a book which Lister hopes will ultimately help conserve the river by donating money to efforts in Gulf County to do just that.
The launch party will also include a photography exhibit and a film about the Apalachicola by Elam Stoltzfus, who movingly told the story of Florida’s largest river and the people who live along it in a movie two years ago.
In two weeks, Lister will also hold a book signing at Palm Tree Books in Port St. Joe, an effort, Lister said, that in part is about promoting reading and the assets Gulf County has for the written word.
One of those would be the author himself.
