Biography

I was born on Christmas Day in Sanford, a small tobacco farming town about 50 miles south of Raleigh, North Carolina. My father was a country doctor whose roommate at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill was T. Gilbert Pearson, the second president of the National Audubon Society. Could Mr. Pearson have motivated me years later to write about Audubon's greatest hero?

Naturally, I attended UNC where I studied journalism. I worked at three newspapers, The GREENSBORO DAILY NEWS, the CHARLOTTE NEWS and the BALTIMORE SUN before embarking on a career in industrial and documentary films. In 1962, I moved with my wife, Joan, and five children to South Florida, which of course introduced me to the Everglades. Two of my Everglades films won a number of national awards and one, "Alligator," earned Silver Medal at the 1969 Venice Film Festival.

For the last quarter of a century I have concentrated on writing 14 nonfiction books and some 500 magazine stories, most of them historical. And most of them set in Florida or the South. One exception was RATING THE PRESIDENTS, a book I coauthored on our nation's chief executives. I also worked for 22 years as editor of the SOUTH FLORIDA HISTORY MAGAZINE.

In addition, I served three years as president of the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and regional vice-president of the MWA. My work in the mystery field includes MURDER IN THE TROPICS, a collection of true crime stories about spectacular Florida homicides, and "Instant Replay," a short story published in an anthology, MYSTERY IN THE SUNSHINE STATE.

A renowned Florida journalist once referred to me as "South Florida's tribal story teller." I was never sure what the tribal meant but I took pride in being called a storyteller. To me, telling a good story is what it's all about.

I like to think of myself, too, as a "method" writer. I wrote a book called HEMINGWAY'S KEY WEST, which dealt among other things with ol' Ernie's impact on Key West today. To help get into the swing of things, I grew a beard and entered the Hemingway look-alike contest. I was bounced out unceremoniously in the first round. But I think my chapter on becoming a Hemingway look-alike was good for the book. How often do you get to write about making a fool of yourself?

These days I live with my good-looking writer wife Joan in the little Florida town of Lighthouse Point, just north of Fort Lauderdale. Our five children have moved out into the world but we still remain close to them and to our three wonderful grandchildren. Why do I keep writing now that I'm years past the usual retirement age? Frankly, I just like writing stories and I hope you enjoy reading them.