Community Calendar

Apalachicola Area Historical Society Presents

Apalachicola, FL (October 28, 2026) – The Apalachicola Area Historical Society (AAHS) will be hosting a special program, “WAR Comes to Apalachicola! The Sinking & Rescue of the Empire Mica,” featuring Grayson Shepard on Tuesday, November 10, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET at the Raney Museum Carriage House, 126 Market Street in Apalachicola. The program is open to the public, although seating is limited. There is no charge and donations are warmly welcomed.

On June 29, 1942, the British tanker Empire Mica, carrying fuel for the Royal Air Force during World War II, was torpedoed by a German U-boat approximately 21 miles south of Cape San Blas. In response, Apalachicola fishing boats rushed to the scene and rescued the survivors, demonstrating the courage and compassion of the local fishing fleet during wartime. Grayson Shepard’s presentation will explore the sinking, the dramatic rescue, and current efforts to memorialize the valiant actions of Apalachicola’s fishing fleet.

An offshore charter captain and avid scuba diver in Franklin County since 1999, Shepard has a longstanding interest in military history and the Empire Mica story. He has visited the wreck site dozens of times and helped secure its designation as an underwater archaeological site on the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail.

This program is part of a popular series by the Apalachicola Area Historical Society. AAHS is a member supported 501(c)3 dedicated to advancing understanding of the cultural history of Apalachicola and its surroundings. Funded in part by the Franklin County Tourist Development Council. For details, email AAHS.Raney@gmail.com, leave a message at (850) 653-1700, or go to www.apalachicolahistoricalsociety.org.

Midtown Reader invites you to an evening with English PhD candidate Noah Farberman as he discusses his new book, Death of a Greaseboy, with FSU professor L. Lamar Wilson.

ABOUT THE BOOK
After over 30 years of silence, legendary Greaseboy pusher Ira Robinson is telling his side of the final game that took the lives of his father and best friend, fellow Greasy Beauties pusher Samuel Goldman. While the Greaseboy Federation insists no wrongdoing, it also obfuscates the deaths of four thousand ballmen lost as part of "normal gameplay." But how can four thousand drowning deaths be normal?

Robinson and former Greaseboy Federation public relations representative Noah Farberman present documents from the lifespan of Greaseboy, from early development to modern changes. Whether you were there for the first seasons of Greaseboy, a casual watcher, or a parent of a high school player, The Death of Greaseboy is a crucial read at a turning point for the sport.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Noah Farberman (no relation) is an academically minded gamer, TV consumer, and ice cream lover. He has a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from University of King’s College in Halifax, an Honours Bachelors in creative writing from the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, and an honours diploma in Comedy Writing and Performance from Humber College. Noah currently resides in Florida where he is completing his English PhD at Florida State University. Noah's first novella is being released with Archive of the Odd Press and will be his greasiest novella.

ABOUT L. LAMAR WILSON
L. Lamar Wilson is an Affrilachian writer of multiethnic descent. He holds an MFA from Virginia Tech and a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. L. Lamar Wilson's poems have appeared in African American Review, Callaloo, jubilat, Los Angeles Review, The 100 Best African American Poems, and other journals and anthologies.

Florida led the United States in executions in 2025, accounting for 19 executions—approximately 40% of the national total. Against this backdrop, the International Human Rights and the Death Penalty Symposium will convene an exceptional group of globally recognized scholars, practitioners, and policymakers at Florida State University College of Law.

Bringing together leading voices on this topic from across the world, the symposium will examine capital punishment through an international human rights lens. Discussions will explore legal, ethical, and comparative perspectives, fostering rigorous and informed dialogue on one of the most complex and consequential issues in modern law.

Distinguished speakers include Sister Helen Prejean; Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, former President of Mongolia; Mario Marazziti, former deputy in Italy's Camera dei Deputati; Mark Olive, a nationally recognized death penalty litigation expert; Professor Corinna Barrett Lain, University of Richmond School of Law; Professor William Schabas, Middlesex University, London; Robin Maher, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, with more to come.

We hope you will join us for this important and globally informed discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. CLE credit pending.

Join us for trivia night to celebrate the release of the Sunrise on the Reaping movie!

There will be several rounds, each one increasing in difficulty. Enjoy a glass of wine or a slice of pie while you compete to be the best of the best. (All questions will be based on book canon, not movie canon.)

Brush up on your knowledge of all things Hunger Games, invite your friends and family, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Join our Mission San Luis archaeologist for a tour of Tallahassee’s only National Historic Landmark from an archaeological perspective.

Learn how the site was excavated and what was discovered about the Apalachee and Spanish residents from the 17th century.

Please note the Tennessee Street entrance is temporarily closed due to construction. Use the west entrance at 2021 MISSION ROAD to enter site.

Join our Mission San Luis archaeologist for a tour of Tallahassee’s only National Historic Landmark from an archaeological perspective.

Learn how the site was excavated and what was discovered about the Apalachee and Spanish residents from the 17th century.

Please note the Tennessee Street entrance is temporarily closed due to construction. Use the west entrance at 2021 MISSION ROAD to enter site.

Join our Mission San Luis archaeologist for a tour of Tallahassee’s only National Historic Landmark from an archaeological perspective.

Learn how the site was excavated and what was discovered about the Apalachee and Spanish residents from the 17th century.

Please note the Tennessee Street entrance is temporarily closed due to construction. Use the west entrance at 2021 MISSION ROAD to enter site.

Join our Mission San Luis archaeologist for a tour of Tallahassee’s only National Historic Landmark from an archaeological perspective.

Learn how the site was excavated and what was discovered about the Apalachee and Spanish residents from the 17th century.

Please note the Tennessee Street entrance is temporarily closed due to construction. Use the west entrance at 2021 MISSION ROAD to enter site.

Join our Mission San Luis archaeologist for a tour of Tallahassee’s only National Historic Landmark from an archaeological perspective.

Learn how the site was excavated and what was discovered about the Apalachee and Spanish residents from the 17th century.

Please note the Tennessee Street entrance is temporarily closed due to construction. Use the west entrance at 2021 MISSION ROAD to enter site.