Casting call for young actor

A” Land Remembered” book cover.

As someone who was personal friends with Patrick Smith when I lived on Merritt Island, I wish I was a boy between the ages of 8 and 13 who knows how to ride a horse.

That’s a role currently being cast for “A Land Remembered,” an upcoming television series based on Smith’s historic novel of the same name.

The series is being created for television by Todd Wiseman Jr. and Christa Boarini. The casting director is Karlie Loland-Ringer, CSA, who has roots in Marion County.

Smith was born in Mississippi and moved to Florida in 1966. He and I became friends when I was the editor of the “Merritt Island Press” weekly newspaper. He would visit our office frequently to pass the time and share stories in his syrupy southern drawl. His daughter, Jane Smith, covered local auto racing for our sports section.

Inscription inside Susan Smiley-Height’s copy of “The Last Ride.”

Smith also is the author of “The River is Home and Angel City,” “Forever Island” and “Allapattah” and co-author of “The Last Ride” with former bull riding champion and Williston resident Glen “Pee Wee” Mercer. My copy of that book carries an inscription from Smith that states, “For Susan with best wishes, Patrick Smith. Thanks for all the support you have given me as a writer.”

Smith has been nominated for numerous awards, including seven times for the Pulitzer Prize and five times for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1999.

The back cover of “A Land Remembered” makes this statement: “Here are three generations of the MacIvey family, from dirt poor Crackers to wealthy real estate tycoons, in an epic portrayal of the American pioneer will to survive against all odds. Here is the sweeping story of the land, how at first bare survival is scratched from it and then how it is exploited far beyond human need. Here is a rich, rugged history of Florida’s pioneer spirit and natural world.”

According to information provided by Loland-Ringer, this is the character breakdown for the role being cast for a young male actor for the TV series: “Zech MacIvey is the first true child of the Florida frontier — a boy caught between innocence and survival. At 11, he idolizes his father Tobias, mimicking his grit and strength, but inside carries the quiet empathy and moral intelligence of his mother Emma. He is a child raised in a land where decency and brutality are often the same thing. Zech is the bridge between worlds — the first generation born not from the civilization his parents left behind, but from the wilderness itself. His life is the story of how wonder hardens into wisdom. As he grows older, Zech rides and hunts with the skill of a man but carries the ache of a boy still searching for mercy in a merciless world. In Zech, empathy is not a weakness, it’s the proof of a soul forged by love in a place that punishes feeling.”

“Looking to cast a Caucasian boy between the ages of 8 to 13. We want to find raw talent. If you have any equestrian ability or have read ‘A Land Remembered’ before, let us know,” Loland-Ringer noted.

The deadline for a self-taped submission is 12 p.m. EST Nov. 14. In-person callbacks will be held on Nov. 22 in Ocala. The KLR Casting Team will contact selected talent directly with details and scheduling. All communication will be handled through the talent’s parent or legal guardian.

For details about the audition process, go to klrcreativegroup.com/alandremembered

To learn more about the series, go to alandremembered.org

For information about Smith, visit dos.fl.gov/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/patrick-d-smith