Memorable Hermit: Carl Hiaasen’s Mick Stranahan

Trish — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:47:12 +0000

Another of Hiaassen’s recurring fictional hermits is Mick Stranahan, a retired (as in “asked-to-leave”) investigator for the Florida Attorney General. A serial husband (six ex-wives) and loner, he lives in a stilt house on Florida’s Biscayne Bay and when that is destroyed by a hurricane, he becomes caretaker of a nearby, isolated island. Stranahan’s investigative skills come in handy in Hiassen’s books: Skin Tight, and Skinny Dip.

In his career as a professional investigative journalist and columnist for the Miami Herald, author Carl Hiaasen can obviously handle people and is apparently willing to ”mix-it up” with more than a few. To quote his website bio: “Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a regular column, which at one time or another has pissed off just about everybody in South Florida.”

But there’s something about the motivational and reactive accuracy of Hiaasen’s Skink and Stranahan that makes me suspect Hiaasen has a hermitic streak himself.

Most Memorable Hermits: Nominee No. 1 – Carl Hiaasen’s Skink.

Trish — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:18:34 +0000

I’ve only been reading “mystery” novels for about five years. One advantage of waiting so long to “discover” the genre, is now when find an author I like, I can go back and read all of his or her works. This is especially fun when the author writes series with recurring characters (common among mystery writers). Among mysteries, I go for fascinating and unusual characters in a comical or uplifting milieu. I actively avoid works that over-emphasize the grim, grizzly or sadistic.

I’ve recently become a big fan of Carl Hiaasen. Hiassen’s works actually surpass the mystery genre into just plain fun, satirical, contemporary fiction. I just finished Double Whammy, (c) 1987, a murder mystery with a background of (all things) pro-bass fishing tournaments. As a result, I’ve decided to make Most Memorable Hermits (Real or Fictional) a recurring feature in this blog. Although Kaczynski and Thoreau made the list by default, my first official nominee is Hiaasen’s Skink.

Skink is a highly intelligent, good-looking, slightly wacko, radical environmentalist. He’s also a former governer of Florida who vanished mid-term and was never found. When we first meet Skink, his hermitage is a book-lined lakeside shack. (In later novels he lives in abandoned vehicles and even a dumpster, but somehow he always has room for his library.) His favorite food is fresh roadkill – when he gets hungry, he’s off to the highway like you or I would stop by a supermarket. If you’re unfamiliar with him, give him a read. Believe it or not, he’s a very likable character.

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Memorable Hermit: Carl Hiaasen’s Mick Stranahan

Most Memorable Hermits: Nominee No. 1 – Carl Hiaasen’s Skink.