Friday, April 27, 2012

Florida Conversations Finds ‘Real Florida’


Join the Tampa Bay History Center as we dig down to reveal the “Real Florida” and welcome award-winning environmental author Bill Belleville to the Florida Conversations Lecture Series on Thurs. May 10 at 6:30 p.m

Belleville’s recently-published book Salvaging the Real Florida invites readers to paddle along a glowing lagoon, slog through a swamp, explore a spring cave, and visit the historic Florida riverboat town he calls home.

Belleville’s 2006 book Losing it all to Sprawl was named one of the year’s best by the Library Journal and received a bronze medal at the 2007 Florida Book Awards. More recently, Salvaging the Real Florida took home a 2011 National Outdoor Book Award.

Florida Conversations is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and supported by WUSF Public Media and features authors and presenters covering a variety of Florida topics, from politics to fiction, history to environmental issues.

Public parking is available at Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, the Channelside garage and other city-owned lots. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay Center at (813) 228-0097 or online at www.tampabayhistorycenter.org. Free.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Florida Conversations Celebrates Golden Age of Florida Advertising

From bathing beauties to alligator wrestling, the Tampa Bay History Center takes a look at classic Florida advertising during the Florida Conversations Lecture Series on Thursday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Cultural historian Tim Hollis dives into the golden era of Florida tourism in Selling the Sunshine State, a compendium of brochures, postcards, souvenirs, and photos culled from Hollis' personal collection of Floridiana. Hollis will discuss his book and how for nearly a century, bright, kitschy print advertisements and roadside attractions worked to lure tourists to the Sunshine State.

Tim Hollis is the author of numerous books celebrating Southern popular culture and history, including Dixie Before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Fun and Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast.

Florida Conversations is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and supported by WUSF Public Media and features authors and presenters covering a variety of Florida topics, from politics to fiction, history to environmental issues.

Public parking is available at Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, the Channelside garage and other city-owned lots. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay Center at (813) 228-0097 or online at www.tampabayhistorycenter.org. Free.

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