By Ron Hayes
You see it at the movies all the time.
“Inspired by a true story” is the promise at the beginning.
And then, in tiny letters at the end: “Although based on real events …” And you find out that most of what you’ve just seen never happened.
Harvey Oyer III, descendant of Boynton Beach pioneers, amateur historian and successful children’s author, has often pondered that line between fact and fiction.
In 2008, Oyer published The American Jungle, a children’s book based on the life of his great-granduncle, Charles W. Pierce (1864-1939), whose little sister, Lillie Pierce Voss, grew up to become Oyer’s great-grandmother.
With The Last Egret in 2010 and The Last Calusa two years later, Oyer has created “The Adventures of Charlie Pierce,” a series of historical fictions for children.
In December, The Barefoot Mailman arrived, Oyer’s take on those intrepid, 19th-century postmen who lugged the mail on foot from Hypoluxo Island down the beach to Miami and back.
“This one tells the story of our family friend, Ed Hamilton, who disappeared without a trace while carrying the mail to Miami,” Oyer says. “As a result of his disappearance, Charlie became the Barefoot Mailman.”
The original mailman died — possibly drowned in the Hillsboro Inlet — and Oyer’s great-granduncle took over the job. That much is true.
So where does the history end for Oyer, and inspiration begin?
“It’s a tricky balance,” he concedes. “I have two goals — to write an interesting, fun read for children, and teach as much Florida history, geography and ecology as I possibly can.”
To get the history right, Oyer says, he researches heavily, and then has the books proofread by university professors and museum curators.
“The fiction is the dialogue, because I obviously don’t know what the characters said to each other 130 years ago,” he adds. And because history is often unwieldy, Oyer doesn’t hesitate to simplify, condensing timelines and chronologies to keep the story moving.
“For example,” he says, “I make Charlie the only replacement for Ed Hamilton, but in real life he alternated weekly with another mailman named Andrew Garnett. One would care for the other’s farm while he walked, and then he’d switch.”
Add some imaginary characters, animals, challenges and triumphs, tag on a gentle moral at the end and Oyer has written a Florida fable built on a firmly historical foundation.
Apparently, Oyer’s blend of fact and fiction doesn’t trouble South Florida’s teachers. The Last Egret is required reading for about half of Florida’s fourth-graders each year.
For all the fiction in his books, Oyer’s Barefoot Mailman may offer more reliable history than Theodore’s Pratt’s celebrated 1943 novel of the same name.
According to Oyer, Pratt was more storyteller than historian.
“He turned Charlie into a jungle boy, unsophisticated and primitive. Pratt didn’t call his character Charlie, so there was no slander, but my great-grandmother had expected he was going to be a hero.
“I once saw a letter she wrote to the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach when Pratt was scheduled to be a guest lecturer. She said, ‘Do not let this scoundrel into your fine institution.’"
The Barefoot Mailman is available at Hand’s Office & Art Supply in Delray Beach, the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach and amazon.com. The retail price is $19.95.
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