White Sugar, Brown Sugar

The Inland Waterway physically separates Florida Communities. Many years ago, it segregated races and cultures. David "Jude" Armstrong and Roosevelt Harris grow up in these different worlds. Their lives intertwine as they fall into the world of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction and struggle to break free. White Sugar, Brown Sugar follows the naive boys' loss of innocence, submergence to the depths of desperation and eventual emergence as recovering adults. It is an inspirational story of deep friendship, hope, and strength.

White Sugar, Brown Sugar is a novel set in Daytona Beach, Florida. An upper middle-class white boy from the peninsula, or beach-side, of the Inland Waterway, and a black boy of lesser means, who lives west of the railroad tracks, where Blacks (who were called Negroes and other names at the time) were required to live, become good friends, in spite of the racial separation in effect in the 60's in the south. David "Jude" Armstrong and Roosevelt Harris meet at a basin of a yacht club. Jude, the white boy, fishes from the docks, where stately boats stand. Roosevelt, the black boy, and his family, fish with cane poles on the wall next to the street. The boys meet various times over the years. The tranquility of Jude Armstrong's safe, upper middle-class white world ends when his alcoholic mother tosses his father out of the house. Roosevelt Harris's life has never been tranquil. He has grown up with his grandparents. He has never known a father, and his mother is a heroin addict who disappears for weeks at a time, and is incarcerated frequently. Neither boy understands the racial issues of the time. Both boys fully understand the misery and difficulties that arise from abuse of alcohol and drugs, and both swear they will never end up in that situation, yet they both follow the same path. Eventually, Jude's father, Lansing Armstrong, an attorney, helps the boys escape criminal prosecution for drug-related crimes, and becomes a guiding light for both boys. Roosevelt grasps sobriety much sooner and easier than Jude does. As the founder of a successful restaurant business, he eventually places both Roosevelt and Jude in control of the business. Jude and Roosevelt struggle to overcome their prior problems, and eventually lead normal and successful lives. White Sugar, Brown Sugar follows their loss of innocence, submergence to the depths of desperation and eventual emergence as recovering adults. It is a story of deep friendship, hope, strength, and inspiration.

Michael A. Pyle has written and published three English textbooks for foreign students and two historical fiction novels. His textbooks for foreign students arose from his having been a professor of English as a Second Language at the University of Florida. In 2012, he published his historical fiction novel 'White Sugar, Brown Sugar', about racial issues, drug abuse, and recovery in 1950s and 60s Florida. In 2018, he published 'Cuban Roots' after performing extensive research and interviews in the United States and throughout Cuba. After practicing law for 40 years and retiring in 2023, Pyle has turned to writing general fiction. His recent works feature characters from his previous books.