Except for a couple of hours playing bridge, I spent the weekend at my desk to finish up the captions for the one hundred illustrations that (I trust) will be in my upcoming book on the history of Florida women. All of the images will come from the Florida State Archives, which has a very user-friendly website. If you have time on your hands, just go to “Florida Memory” and look at pictures.  Read More 

We all need editors, even those who don’t write. We need editors to separate the wheat from the chaff, to guide us through this world of too-much-information.  Read More 

What I hear from most of you who talk to me about my columns is that you prefer the offbeat: the recent pieces on cabbage palm or female mayors, for example. You seem to want the historical more than the current, so I won’t mention that Forbes – certainly no liberal magazine – recently deemed Barack Obama “the best economic president of modern times.”  Read More 

Hubby was fortunate enough to sit on the stage with James Michener once, years ago when that greatest historical novelist was the speaker for USF’s graduation. Because everyone talks during the hours-long reading of graduates’ names, Hubby had a chance for a good conversation with this brilliant writer.  Read More 

Although it’s always hot, I love the AFL-CIO’s Labor Day picnic at Boggy Bottom BBQ Ranch. The Lupton restaurateurs who own this big piece of land have done an increasingly wonderful job of preserving Florida’s natural environment, while making just the right amount of improvements – misters, fans, and shade – to provide comfort.  Read More