Panhandlers: A Story of Grit and Violence in the Florida Panhandle

From the author of Native Moments comes a haunting and heartfelt portrait of life on the margins of the Florida panhandle.

In Panhandlers, Nic Schuck tells a raw and unflinching story of Hank Ackerman, a boy born into poverty in the forgotten lumber town of Sullivan, Florida. As Hank struggles to break free from a legacy of hardship and addiction, he learns that escape isn’t just about leaving—it’s about finding something worth running toward. Hank’s journey unfolds alongside the lives of Sullivan’s other denizens—mostly dreamers, drifters, and the down-and-out—each carrying their own burdens and desires.

Set against the backdrop of the sweltering Gulf Coast and spanning decades of hope, heartbreak, and hard luck, Panhandlers explores the pull of family and the price of dreams. With grit, grace, and deep emotional honesty, Schuck delivers a powerful coming-of-age tale interwoven among a chorus of lives bound by place, longing, and survival.