Tag Archives: Gurney Kennedy

The Story of Tree Hill

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This is the story of Tree Hill, of impounding the creeks for a mill pond 200 years ago; the famed herpetologist and the boa constrictor; the woman on horseback who knew all the land’s secrets; the strange translucent pyramid; of the annual butterfly festival, of a thousand native butterflies taking flight at once.

The “Pantheistic Mysticism” of the Delius House

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The Delius House at Jacksonville University has served, at times, as international pilgrimage site. Today it feels forlorn. Saved once, 60 years ago, it feels in need of salvation again. Moved from Solano Grove in 1961, it’s the cottage where the English composer Frederick Delius said he first “felt the urge toward music.”

Recalling Book Burnings at Jacksonville University

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The 1970 Jacksonville University yearbook, the Riparian, was a collector’s item before the year was out. That fraternity members burned the book helped. So did the national news of JU’s president’s threatening to withhold the editor’s diploma. Half a century later, JU grads treasure it as an almost sacred object.

When Artis Gilmore Led a Whole City to the NCAA Championship

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In 1970, Jacksonville University marched toward the NCAA championships, David v. Goliath, and enraptured its city in the process. Sports Illustrated called JU a “transformed junior college” and Jax the urban heart of the Okefenokee Swamp. The first page of the yearbook caught the front of one shoe, nothing more: Artis Gilmore stood 7’2″, but some added six inches for his afro.