Born where the Oklawaha River flows, Rayland Rivers faces the realities of late 1870's. After the war and before the railroads, even before Lake County was carved out of Sumter County, Florida folk, both black and white, wring a living from a hostile world. Rayland has little success in seeking peaceful solutions to the weight of the world. Still, strength and fortitude sustain him when his inborn moral values are pummeled by those who have little of their own. Author Ray Allen Smith molds his words into poetry and short stories. This is his first novel. He came to Florida in the early 70's to sample the fishing and boating. His years in Miami were studded with motor and sailing through out the Keys and Bahamas. A move to Leesburg put him back in the woods and ponds. Still an outdoors-man, he he tempers the Florida sun with stints at the computer.