New York Times Best-selling Author Begins Florida Lecture Series With Humorous Talk

LAKELAND, Fla., Sept. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lawton M. Chiles Center for Florida History Florida Lecture Series kicks off with a humorous look at the state of Florida on Sept. 29.

Former Tampa Bay Times award-winning journalist Craig Pittman is scheduled to be the first guest of the 2021-22 lecture series as he delivers a talk titled "The State You're In: Florida Men, Florida Women, and other Wildlife," Branscomb Auditorium.

For more than 30 years Pittman has covered the wildest stories Florida has to offer, and will share many of them with the FSC community and our guests. Pittman will describe some of Florida's oddest wildlife as well as its quirkiest people. Pittman is a New York Times best-selling author, and a four-time winner of the Waldo Proffitt Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism in Florida. He is the author of six books, including Paving Paradise, Manatee Insanity, Cat Tale: The Wild Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther, Oh Florida! How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country and, most recently, The State You're In.

"We're really delighted to have the program again this year after our hiatus," Florida Southern Professor of History and Director of the Lawton Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History James M. Denham said. "We're especially delighted to have Craig Pittman who's going to share a lot of his insights on Florida's cultural and political quirkiness. The program will be very lively and humorous in the way that only he can make it. It's a zany trip throughout Florida's interesting and unique makeup. This will be an informative and fun way to begin this year's series."

The Florida Lecture Series is a forum that brings speakers to the Florida Southern Campus who explore Florida lifestyles and culture. The series covers a wide range of disciplines including history, public affairs, law, sociology, criminology, anthropology, literature, and art. The objective of the series is to bring members of the community, faculty and student body together to interact with and learn from leading authorities in their fields.

The performance is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Branscomb Auditorium. Because of social distancing protocols, masks will be required and attendance will be limited to 365 people.

About Florida Southern College 

Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private college in the state. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 70+ undergraduate programs and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning, and boasts 30 NCAA Division II National Championships. Florida Southern is ranked at #8 among the "Best Regional Universities in the South" by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 "Best Colleges" guide and is included in The Princeton Review's 2022 Best 387 Colleges guide and the "Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022." The 2021-2022 Colleges of Distinction guidebook praises Florida Southern's AACSB accredited Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise alongside the College's School of Education and its Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Poets & Quants, U.S. News & World Report, and The Princeton Review further laud the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise and the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences as foremost programs in the nation for business and nursing education. Home to the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, FSC has appeared on The Princeton Review's top 20 "Most Beautiful Campus" national listing for 12 consecutive years. Connect with Florida Southern College. 

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SOURCE Florida Southern College