Marco Island Historical Society Curator Wins Florida Book Award

The Marco Island Historical Society (MIHS) is pleased to announce that Lost and Found: The Adventures of Marco the Cat, a children’s book authored by MIHS Curator of Collections Austin J. Bell and illustrated by artist Kayleigh Castle, was recognized by the Florida Historical Society. The book received the James J. Horgan Book Award, given each year to an outstanding book for young readers on a Florida history topic. 

Winning books were announced at the 2023 Florida History Society Awards luncheon held on May 18 in Lakeland. The event was part of the Florida Historical Society Public History Forum and Florida State Genealogical Society Conference.

Lost and Found: The Adventures of Marco the Cat is dedicated by Bell to his young daughter Chloe Evelyn Bell and was written for children between the ages of three and eight years old. The whimsical telling of the story of Marco, the Key Marco Cat, and his friends, bird, wolf and deer, is complemented perfectly by the playful and colorful illustrations of artist Kayleigh Castle. The book draws the reader into the village life of Marco Island’s ancient peoples and the story of the real Key Marco Cat artifact that was lost for centuries only to be found and reunited in a museum with other Calusa wood carvings — including a bird, wolf and deer.

“There are many articles, books, and exhibits about the Key Marco artifacts for adults but there really aren’t any for kids. We wanted to make this amazing and important part of Marco Island’s history accessible to our youngest audiences as well,” says Bell. “It’s never too early to get kids interested in and excited about history.” 

Likely carved from a native hardwood, the actual Key Marco Cat was created some 500 to 1,500 years ago by Southwest Florida’s indigenous Calusa people or their predecessors, the Muspa. Discovered on Marco Island in 1896 during a Smithsonian sponsored archaeological expedition led by archaeologist and anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing, the half cat/half human figure is considered one of the finest pieces of pre-Columbian Native American art ever discovered in North America. At just six inches tall, the wandering feline has captured the public’s imagination for over a century and continues to intrigue all who view it. 

An unprecedented five-year loan extension by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History continues the original three-year loan of the Key Marco Cat to MIHM through April 2026. It is reunited with additional rare pre-Columbian artifacts on loan from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. 

Signed copies of Lost and Found: The Adventures of Marco the Cat are available at the Museum gift shop. Books also can be ordered through the Peppertree Press and other online retailers. The hardcover edition is $24.95 and the paperback is $16.95. A Marco the Cat plush toy is also available at the Museum gift shop. For information, call 239.389.6447 or visit www.theMIHS.org. 

The Marco Island Historical Museum is located at 180 S. Heathwood Drive. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Admission is free and the site is handicapped accessible.