Florida Is Not For Sissies

As much a personal memoir as it is a survivor's guide, this work embraces and infuses an informed, and at times humorous, geography of culture, inherent dangers and disasters-you-can-count-on that define Ms. Love's beloved Florida. Debunking at least some of the mythology that permeates the pursuit of happiness, or at least retirement here, she takes her task seriously and considers this work a public service as well as a love letter to her native state. This work was created specifically to educate and protect both residents and visitors from the physical and social realities that can, and just might, show up with time spent in the Sunshine State.

Kimball Love, a 7^th generation Floridian, has devoted the vast majority of her working life to public service. Her diverse career includes stints at the National Geographic Society, Florida-based local, regional and state agencies and as an independent consultant. Successful projects range from support for K-12 geographic education in several Southern states to managing disaster recovery and economic development programs to managing projects for the restoration of the Loxahatchee River and Indian River Lagoon.She served as Associate Producer on the award-winning "Kissimmee Basin: the Northern Everglades" public television documentary and authored the Florida state-sponsored Cooperative Conservation Blueprint for Regional Conservation Connectivity. The Blueprint provided the platform for the Florida Wildlife Corridor project and the newly-authorized Everglades to Gulf Conservation Area that covers more than a 4 million-acre expanse from Naples to Lakeland. Most recently Ms. Love authored a beautifully illustrated children's book, The Children Were With Me In The Woods Today, that is dedicated to encouraging the love of our natural world in children of all ages.