Gulf Coast Life

We conclude our series of conversations with speakers from the Naples Discussion Group’s 20-21 schedule by talking with Dr. Darrell Slider, Professor Emeritus in political science at University of South Florida. His presentation on Friday, April 9 explored the challenges facing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime in these times of great change, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

It's Parkinson’s Awareness Month, so we’re talking with two people working to help those with the neurodegenerative disease here in Southwest Florida. Dr. Ramon Gil is a neurologist at the Parkinson’s Treatment Center Of Southwest Florida, and Mary Spremulli is a medical speech-language pathologist and owner of Voice Aerobics Speech Language Therapy in Punta Gorda. We also meet one of her clients, Mike Davidson, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s five years ago.

Nearly 500 students are now participating in the “Students & Seniors: From Our Nest to Theirs” program at Florida Gulf Coast University. Students earn service-learning hours by writing letters, and creating cards, videos, poems, stories, and works of art, which are then distributed to seniors living in care facilities in Lee and Collier Counties.

We bring you an episode of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories with singer/songwriter Bill Metts, who performed on Arts Edition just last month with fellow singer/songwriter Bruce Gallant. The duo perform at venues around SWFL and Bill is co-founder and vice president of the non-profit Hope By Song, which helps people whose stories of loss, abuse, addiction, homelessness, PTSD have not been heard by inspiring them to tell their stories through song.

Michelle D. Commander, editor of UNSUNG, and Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of THE EX TALK.

Throughout Ernest Hemingway’s life he had a number of famous residences, including in Cuba, and in Key West where he lived for about a decade from the late 1920s to the late 1930s. We get a sense of his time in The Keys with author, poet, and publisher Arlo Haskell. He’s executive director of the Key West Literary Seminar and grew up in The Keys surrounded by Hemingway’s influence and legacy.

We meet the creators of the "One True Podcast" which explores all things related to Ernest Hemingway, his work, and his world. It’s hosted by Dr. Mark Cirino, professor of English at University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana; and produced by Dr. Michael Von Cannon, instructor in the Department of Language & Literature at Florida Gulf Coast University.

In conjunction with the “Forgotten Florida: Photos from the Farm Security Administration” up now at the Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch in Collier County the museum conducted a “Forgotten Florida Teen Photo Contest” for students in Collier County to express their lives during the global pandemic. We’re joined by the winner of that exhibit, Marco Island Academy sophomore Kathryn Barry; and the Immokalee Pioneer Museum’s manager, Brent Trout.

We speak with Desmond Meade, he was a driving force behind the passage of Amendment 4 to the Florida constitution passed by 65% of voters in 2018. Meade is President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy, and author of the book “Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Civil Rights of Returning Citizens” which recounts his struggles with addiction and homelessness before turning his life toward public service and the Amendment 4 campaign.

A new assessment published by Calusa Waterkeeper found that water quality across southwest Florida continues to decline despite efforts to mitigate pollution stemming from development and agriculture.