About the Author

Gail Nolen is a Florida native. After receiving late 1800 - 1940's original family letters , Gail knew she held a special piece of history that needed to be told. The biggest story had to be about the family's forced move from the land they had toiled over and fallen in love with - Merritt Island, Florida. The U.S. Government decided their little piece of heaven was the perfect place for NASA to develop the space center for the race to the moon. Land acquisition began in the early 1960's.

Hearing some of these stories growing up, it wasn't until she actually sat down and started recording family voices did Gail realize the hurt, anger and pain they had experienced losing their land. The pain clearly heard in the audio recordings. "I knew then I had to professionally publish a book that could be distributed to a wider audience than just at my family reunions. Memories of Merritt Island, Birthplace of Kennedy Space Center, is that result. I am very proud of this book. It has opened doors for the family to go back to the land to visit their homestead and home sites. Not much of their life remains on the land but a few foundations. However, the joy expressed on the older generation faces let me know that a little bit of healing began. It also began a bridge between this generation who grew up and worked the land and the younger generation. The next book will tell the stories of other families who lived on Merritt Island during the time my family lived there".

Gail is also developing a book for her older son, Chris, who is now 40 years old. This book is in the very beginning stages but when he saw Andy's book about the mice, Chris' question was, "Mom, where's my book"? Chris' passion has always been soccer and he did play two years for a professional team, so this book will have to be about soccer!

Gail now splits her time between Florida, where she volunteers with the North Brevard Heritage Foundation in Titusville, FL and Catch the Spirit of Appalachia in Sylva, NC.