Secret Jacksonville events

Writer Bill Delaney, co-owner of TheJaxsonMag.com and Edible Northeast Florida Magazine, has spent years researching Jacksonville’s underknown and underrepresented stories. His new book, Secret Jacksonville: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure is dedicated to profiling the forgotten, mysterious and just plain interesting spots across Jacksonville and the First Coast. To celebrate the release, he’s hosting a number of events, including readings, book signings and walking tours.

On Tuesday, Sept. 28, Bill is joining fellow authors Tim Gilmore and Darlyn Finch Kuhn for Word by Word Presents Jacksonville Stories Vol. One RSVP here at the UNF Art Gallery. The authors will read from their work, answer questions, sign books, and generally raise our spirits. The free event begins at 6:30.

On Saturday Oct. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 6, Bill is hosting walking tours of a few of the places featured in the book. Hear the stories of Jacksonville’s underground tunnels, the locomotive buried beneath a skyscraper, a lost (and fictitious) Native American city, a long destroyed sculptural masterpiece that will soon be reborn in Jacksonville, underknown Jax music history and much more lying just off the beaten path. The tours begin at James Weldon Johnson Park and tickets are $15 (kids 12 and under are free).

Signed copies of Secret Jacksonville are available at each of these events. You can also order online at thejaxsonmag.com/books.

Upcoming events

Secret Jacksonville Book Launch Party

  • RSVP here
  • Saturday, September 25 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Alewife Craft Beer Bottle Shop, 1035 Park Street
  • Jacksonville, FL 32204

Word by Word Presents Jacksonville Stories Vol. One

  • RSVP here
  • Tuesday, September 28 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • Three writers devoted to Jacksonville - Bill Delaney, Tim Gilmore and Darlyn Finch Kuhn - will read from their work, answer questions, sign books, and generally raise our spirits despite pandemic, political lunacy, and possible extinction.
  • UNF Gallery of Art (Founders Hall, Building 2)
  • 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224
  • Cost: Free

Book signing at San Marco Books

  • Info here
  • Saturday, October 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • San Marco Books & More, 1971 San Marco Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32207
  • Cost: Free

Return of ArtWalk and Wolf & Cub’s 5th Anniversary Party

  • Info here
  • Downtown boutique Wolf & Cub will be toasting five years in #dtjax and the return of ArtWalk with a shop stocked with all kinds of amazing products, tees and vintage for your shopping pleasure. We’ll be dancin’ to the tunes of RickoLus and DJ Wes Reed. Plus, Bill Delaney will be slinging his new book, Secret Jacksonville: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure right in front of the shop on Laura Street.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 6 from 5 to 9 p.m.
  • Wolf & Cub, 205 N. Laura Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202
  • Cost: Free

Secret Jacksonville Walking Tour

  • Get tickets here
  • Saturday, October 9 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
  • James Weldon Johnson Park, 135 West Monroe Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202
  • Cost: $15 (kids 12 and under are free)

Book signing at the BookMark

  • Info here
  • Saturday, October 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • The BookMark, 220 First Street, Neptune Beach, FL 32266
  • Cost: Free

JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival VIII

Info here and here

  • Saturday, October 16 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Bill Delaney will read from (and sell and sign) his new book Secret Jacksonville: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure at the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival, the eighth annual event featuring “Jacksonville writers writing Jacksonville.”
  • Jessie Ball duPont Center: Loading Dock venue
  • 40 E. Adams Street, Jacksonville, Florida 32206
  • Cost: Free

The Jaxson: San Marco Walking Tour

  • Get tickets here
  • Three tours Saturday, Oct. 23: 9:30, 10:30 & 11:30 a.m.
  • Join The Jaxson’s Ennis Davis, Bill Delaney and Mike Field for a walking tour of San Marco, one of Jacksonville’s most popular historic neighborhoods.
  • Balis Park, 1999 San Marco Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida 32207
  • Cost: $25 (kids 12 and under are free)

Book signing at the Book Loft

  • Info here
  • Saturday October 30 from 12 to 2 p.m.
  • The Book Loft, 214 Centre Street, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
  • Cost: Free

Secret Jacksonville Walking Tour

  • Get tickets here
  • Saturday, November 20 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
  • James Weldon Johnson Park, 135 West Monroe Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202
  • Cost: $15 (kids 12 and under are free)

Jacksonville Library Lit Chat

  • Saturday, December 4 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Willow Branch Library, 2875 Park St, Jacksonville, FL 32205
  • Cost: Free

Secret Jacksonville Walking Tour

  • Get tickets here
  • Saturday, December 11 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
  • James Weldon Johnson Park, 135 West Monroe Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202
  • Cost: $15 (kids 12 and under are free)