Welcome to Florida

This episode begins with a rare conservation win in Florida against development. Savor the flavor. 

Our guest is author, historian and professor emeritus in anthropology at Florida A&M University John Foster. Foster has written numerous books on early Florida tourism and Harriet Beecher Stowe's role in it.

We discussed Harriet Beecher Stowe at the Mandarin Museum.

This episode of "Welcome to Florida" begins in Stuart.

Our guest this week is author and historian Gary Mormino. Gary's most recent book, published in 2022, is titled "Dreams in the New Century: Instant Cities, Shattered Hopes and Florida's Turning Point." 

The book covers Florida in the first decade of the new millennium where an extraordinary sequence of stories from Elian Gonzalez to the contested Bush v. Gore election, 9/11, hurricanes, the housing bubble and global economic collapse, Barak Obama's election and the state's bend toward right wing politics dramatically altered Florida, the nation and the future of both.

The governor is touting his environmental record again, to which Craig Pittman cries foul. 

Follow Chadd Scott's travel writing at "My Favorite Florida."

Our guest this week is Marshall Jon Fisher, author of "Seventeen and Oh: Miami, 1972 and the NFL's Only Perfect Season." Fisher was a 9-year-old living in Miami in 1972 following the Dolphins success week-by-week with his father and brother. He recalls the games, and looks at the societal backdrop of Miami and America at this time which included Nixon's presidential re-election and the early phases of Watergate along with the late stages of the Vietnam War.

Craig's dad died recently and he shares a story about his father's work which would eventually dovetail into his own.

Our guest this week is author and historian Jim Clark whose book "Red Pepper and Gorgeous George: Claude Pepper's Epic Defeat in the 1950 Democratic Primary" introduces us to a giant of 20th century Florida history. State rep, U.S. Senator and House member, Medal of Freedom winner, namesake of the FSU Library... how come Pepper is so little known today?

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by Windstorm Products a Florida family-owned business that is now the world's No. 1 online supplier of hurricane hardware. It's not hurricane season now, but it's coming, and Windstorm Products can help your home or business be secure from hurricane wind damage when it comes.

"Welcome to Florida" Season 4 begins with an extraordinary Florida adventure! Warren Richey paddled a sea kayak around Florida.

On January 1, 1923, dubious claims of a sexual assault from a white woman against an unidentified Black man in the small community of Rosewood between Gainesville and Cedar Key set off a sequence of events that would leave untold numbers of people killed and Rosewood burned to the ground.
The event was completely forgotten and erased, except by those who experienced it and lingering myths and rumors in the area.
Then Gary Moore visited in 1982, completely unaware of what had happened there, stumbled on the story, and began reporting for the St. Petersburg Times, reporting which eventually led to his book, "Rosewood: The Full Story."

Our episode begins with a trip to Warm Mineral Springs.

Our guest is Kathryn Ziewitz, co-author of "Green Empire: The St. Joe Company and the Remaking of Florida's Panhandle." The St. Joe Company, a legacy of the Dupont empire, at one point possessed 5% of all the land in Florida along with banks and railroads. It was run from Jacksonville with an iron fist by a true Florida villain: Ed Ball.

Craig Pittman is ON YOUR SIDE!

Our guest is Florida Times-Union columnist Mark Woods. Find Mark's book, "Lassoing the Sun: A Year in America's National Parks."

In the episode we discuss:

Jacksonville consolidation
Axe Handle Saturday
Norman Studios
Mandarin Museum

One of America's worst polluters resides in Escambia County in the Panhandle.

Florida has a rich tradition of surfing which we're focusing on in this episode with Tom Warnke, a longtime Florida surfer and founding member of the Surfing Florida Museum.   

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by WindstormProducts.com the world's leading online retailer of hurricane hardware. Now is the time to prepare your home or business for next year's hurricane season. WindstormProducts.com has the hardware and the knowhow to protect your property from the inevitable.

Looking for (more) undeniable proof of climate change and how Florida's current approach to "resiliency" is inadequate? Look to sea turtles.

Our guest this week is the former longtime food critic at the Miami Herald, 1st generation Cuban and now host at WLRN radio in South Florida, Carlos Frias. Our subject: croquetas.