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OLLI at Eckerd participants helped me write Florida Spectacular. No, they didn’t actually write any of the content, but they helped shape the book.

I’m not shy about telling people writing Florida Spectacular took me way too long to write (seriously, folks, seven years from inception  to book launch; that’s wild).  Part of the reason it took so long was that annoying need to earn money to feed the dogs and myself; part of the reason are the voices in my head that are best discussed with a trained professional.

But back to that first part. One of the things I did — and still do — to help keep the proverbial wolf from the door is give talks about Florida.

One place close to home is OLLI at Eckerd College. I’ve spoken there for more than a decade, always about Florida. And that’s where, while writing Florida Spectacular, I worked through a lot of the content with some help that people didn’t know they were offering.

How, you may ask,  did I get people to help me write a book without their knowledge?

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Easy.

The participants at OLLI at Eckerd College who attended my lectures and took field trips with me unwittingly shaped this book. How? I would give a talk about Florida springs, and their questions and comments helped me understand what people wanted to know about Florida.

Many of the people who came to my talks on a regular basis are also voracious readers, so when they had questions they couldn’t find answers to in a book, I knew I should explore that question for Florida Spectacular.

There’s no doubt that the time I spend speaking there is time I could spend writing. There’s also not a doubt in my mind that if I hadn’t spent that time with those OLLI at Eckerd participants,  Florida Spectacular would be less interesting — and less relevant. The core group of folks who attended my talks and took field trips with me served as an unwitting focus group for Florida Spectacular.

It is my pleasure, then, to have a book signing that will benefit OLLI at Eckerd. The cost of the talk — $35 — includes a signed copy of Florida Spectacular and a donation to OLLI.

Please register and join me Sept. 25 at 2:45 p.m.; I’m donating my time and a portion of the book sales directly to OLLI at Eckerd so we can all take more Florida road trips together.