Snyder, James D.: - Author James D. Snyder has won numerous awards for historical fiction novels ranging from the genesis of Christianity to the Spanish discovery of Florida to the story of a young woman caught up in high-stakes blockade-running during the Civil War. The common thread among them, he says, is an effort to help the reader grasp the essence of a dramatic historical period through the lives of individuals who lived through it.In addition to his novels, Snyder writes and speaks about the colorful history surrounding his home on the Loxahatchee River in South Florida. Five Thousand Years on the Loxahatchee is a pictorial history of Jupiter-Tequesta, FL while Black Gold and Silver Sands describes the hard-scrabble beginnings of Palm Beach county. A Trip Down the Loxahatchee shows the river's beauty through the eyes of 52 painters and photographers. Life and Death on the Loxahatchee tells the story of a larger-than-life Tarzan who fascinated locals until his mysterious death. A Light in the Wilderness shows how a lone lighthouse in forlorn Jupiter became the magnet that drew a throng of early settlers. Jim Snyder has been a writer and editor since graduating from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and The George Washington University graduate school of political science. Beginning in the 1970s he founded what would become the largest independent Washington news bureau for business and medical magazines. In 1984 it became Enterprise Communications Inc., with its own magazines and trade shows. In 1997, when the company was sold to Thomson-Reuters Corp., Snyder was able to pursue a second career as author-historian. He has served as a member of the Florida Historical Commission and as board chairman of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum. Today he is also active in several organizations to protect the Loxahatchee River and its rich history.