Program to be held at Michael’s On East in Sarasota
The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast will welcome award-winning author and historian Jason Vuic as its 2023 Nature Lecturer during an April 19 program at Michael’s On East in Sarasota, the nonprofit has announced.
“Author of The Swamp Peddlers — a tale of misguided land development in Florida during the grow-at-any-cost 1950s and ’60s — Vuic won the Phillip and Dana Zimmerman Gold Medal Prize for Florida Nonfiction at the 2021 Florida Book Awards, as well as the 2021 Charlton Tebeau Award for outstanding general interest book from the Florida Historical Society,” a news release explains.
In his lecture this month, the release adds, “Vuic will dive into the history of the ‘installment land sales industry,’ which seemingly appeared out of nowhere to sell billions of dollars of Florida residential property, sight unseen, to retiring northerners.”
The program will begin at 11:30 am on April 19, the release notes. Michael’s On East is located at 1212 S. East Ave. in Sarasota, in Midtown Plaza.
“Many of Florida’s current land and water issues are a result of ‘swamp peddling’ practices of the past,” Christine P. Johnson, president of the Conservation Foundation, noted in the release. “Forests were felled, wetlands were drained, and canals were dug; the landscape was transformed and not for the better. As we work to conserve and restore land here in Southwest Florida,” she continued, “it’s important to understand how the past led to our current situation. We are delighted to welcome Jason Vuic as our 2023 Nature Lecturer to illuminate this history and share his insights on this very relevant topic.”
A Punta Gorda native, Vuic is a graduate of Wake Forest University in North Carolina, the release says. He also holds Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Richmond in Virginia and a doctorate in history from Indiana University-Bloomington, the release adds.
“His first book, The Yugo: the Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History, received rave reviews” in more than 100 print and web-based publications, the release points out. In 2016, the release continues, his book The Yucks! Two Years in Tampa with the Losingest Team in NFL History, “garnered wide acclaim from several dozen media outlets and publications.”
Tickets and sponsorship opportunities for the April 19 event are available at conservationfoundation.com/naturelecture.