SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 143
Daryl May’s new
book, The Whole
Shootin’ Match,
is filled with
recollections of his life,
first as a deputy sheriff in
Pinellas County, then as
a lounge entertainer and
finally, as an investigator
for the Pinellas County
Property Appraiser.
Storyteller Darryl has
honed his stories so well
over time that it sounds
as though he is casually
telling them for the first
time. He understands what
people like and want and
delivers that throughout
this book, using humor
and insight while throwing
about names, facts and
history, such as when he is
recounting his experiences
in Nashville and with wellknown
celebrities. If he has
nothing good to say about
a person, he usually gives them
a pseudonym rather than using
the actual name. He gives the
reader a glimpse of himself as a
man of principle who has marched
to his own drumbeat through an
interesting life.
If you’ve never seen Daryl
perform, this book will make you
wish you had. Most of his stories
are filled with digressions and
sidetracks common to those who
have the gift of gab.
This is a sequel of sorts to
his Amazon best-selling book
Chasing Shadows. The new book
is filled with delightful phrasing,
picturesque metaphors and side
comments that lead you on a
merry trip through some of the
odd and memorable times during
his days in law enforcement and
afterward. Daryl writes in the same
manner as he speaks. His successes
in comedy and songwriting have
been developed through trial and
error, and in his writing, the reader
is the beneficiary of his years of
practice before a microphone.
His early stories involve the
Pinellas County Sheriff’s office
in the ‘60s and ‘70s and how
different things were at that time.
In the ‘70s and ‘80s, his
views of Clearwater Beach
evolved around icons such
as Bob Jones of Surfside
Holiday Inn, Jay Keyes
of the Hilton and Don
Seaton of the Sea Wake
Inn. Daryl has a way of
paying homage to those he
liked by referencing them
in his tales.
Daryl may refer to himself as
Ex-Fuzz and Guitar Picker, but
most remember him as the fellow
who wrote “Gator Bar,” which
was recorded by the late singer
Mel Tillis. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Author Daryl
May, who lives in Belleair, is working
on a novel called Poolside with
Picasso. Signed copies of The
Whole Shootin’ Match are available
at darylmaycomedy.com or by
messaging him on Facebook. The book
is also available on amazon.com.&
Noble.
BOAORKT S
THE WHOLE SHOOTIN’ MATCH
The Way He Remembers It
By Aaron R. Fodiman
Ex-Fuzz and Guitar Picker
Daryl May
/darylmaycomedy.com
/amazon.com