Vic DiGenti of Ponte Vedra Beach is the author of several novels, short stories and works of nonfiction. His most recent work is “James R. Anthony: The Banker Who Shaped Florida’s History.”
Tell me about your background.
I grew up in South Florida and after graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in telecommunications, I came to Jacksonville working with several radio and television stations. My last position was with WJCT, the PBS and NPR stations in Jacksonville, where I worked as a producer-director, did some on-air work and produced the Jacksonville Jazz Festival for eight years.
I always considered myself a writer and did some freelance on the side. The first money I made as a writer was in sixth grade when I won an essay contest that came with a $25 savings bond.
After retiring, I followed my passion and wrote my first novel, “Windrusher,” an adventure-fantasy featuring a cat as the protagonist. My wife had been volunteering with a cat rescue organization, and we were knee-deep in felines at the time. So, I guess I didn’t have a choice. I’ve since written six novels, a book of short stories and 12 works of nonfiction, working as a ghostwriter and biographer.
What drew you to Ponte Vedra Beach?
I was living in Arlington while working at Channel 4. One Sunday, my roommate and I decided to drive to the Oasis Bar in Ponte Vedra Beach. Walking on the beach, my roommate spotted a young woman he knew sunbathing with another young woman.
While he talked with the girl he’d met at a party, I introduced myself to the other young lady, and, as they say, one thing led to another, and we were married a year later. We lived on Jacksonville’s southside, but we continued to visit the beaches here and one day we saw a billboard for a new Ponte Vedra Beach development called Innlet Beach. We checked it out and liked what we saw.
We were one of the first dozen or so people to buy there, and we’ve lived and raised our family here ever since, in what’s now called the Sawgrass Players Club.
How did you get into ghostwriting?
After writing three books in the “Windrusher” series, I wrote a mystery series.
In 2014, I was working on my seventh novel, a stand-alone thriller, when a WWII veteran asked me to look at the biography he’d been writing. He was 90 years old, and acknowledged he wasn’t a writer. He gave me a three-ring binder with about 100 typed pages. I could see he needed a lot of help and wrote a two-page evaluation for him. Several days later he called and said, “This is just what I need. Why don’t you write it?”
As I said, I was working on another novel, but I wanted to help him, and we came to an agreement. That book, “We Were Amateur Soldiers,” launched me on a new writing career.
Over the past nine years I’ve written a dozen biographies and family histories and edited and published five or six more for other writers.
What is your latest book about?
Most of my clients are the result of word-of-mouth referrals. One of my former clients referred me to a woman living in Vicar’s Landing who wanted to preserve her grandfather’s legacy. Her grandfather, James R. Anthony, had been a successful entrepreneur in retail, real estate, banking and insurance here in Florida during the early 1900s. He knew Henry Flagler and, as a banker, helped bankroll other developers during that period.
After he retired, Anthony wrote five journals meticulously documenting his life and business affairs. His granddaughter had inherited the journals, and I used them to craft a story that was as much a Florida history as a biography.
The book is titled “James R. Anthony: The Banker Who Shaped Florida’s History,” and it is available for sale on Amazon and some area bookstores.
Are you working on another biography?
I’m in between projects now and took the time to finish a short story for an upcoming anthology using my pen name, Parker Francis. But I’m talking to a few people about collaborating with them, so I might be working on another one soon.
What do you like best about ghostwriting?
As a collaborator, I’ve had the privilege of working with people from all walks of life. Along with two WWII veterans, I’ve collaborated with a former police officer, a jazz musician, entrepreneurs, a Congressional aide, a chief economist for the FCC and retired corporate executives.
I’m honored they share their life stories with me, and sometimes I feel I’ve been given a master’s class by these accomplished professionals.
Writing a biography combines my love of writing, research and history. Each project is different, and we work closely together for eight months to a year, so it’s important we are comfortable with one another, and they know they can trust me with their cherished memories and life experiences.
