The Short & Brilliant Life of Ernest Matthew Mickler

When Ernest “Ernie” Matthew Mickler’s book White Trash Cooking appeared in 1986, it became an instant hit. Its author was viewed as either a talented Southern folklorist or a comical novelty. But his work was a rich cultural document of a vanishing rural Florida, and he proved that poor rural people can and should document their life-ways with dignity. This is Mickler’s story.