Former Herald-Tribune editor launches new book on Florida breweries

Craft beer is all the rage these days, particularly in Florida, which has earned a reputation as a hub for creative, delicious beers, with a plethora of small, medium and large breweries all over. The scene has grown so popular it’s now the subject of a book, titled, well, Florida Breweries, and it was penned […]

Sideways in Sarasota

Thanks so much to everyone who’s posted comments on my blog, FB, sent emails and snail mail wishing me well in future writing. Some of you also asked about my past writing and where to read it … my book, Sideways in Sarasota, is one of the best ways to read my early columns — […]

Sense and the City: Signing off

Today’s column will be my last for Ticket. I’ve enjoyed writing in this space — sharing stories about everything from dads teaching their children how to skip stones across the water, charities and fundraising events, and women who put their titillating talent (and tassels) to the burlesque test, to pieces about local firefighters, nurses and […]

Sense and the City: Diane McFarlin will be missed

Having met Sarasota Herald-Tribune Publisher Diane McFarlin only once and then briefly — when we bumped into each other one night at a Ringling Town Hall lecture, and I learned that she was as warm and genuine up close and personal as she was elegant and beautiful from afar — I knew I wasn’t the best-qualified […]

Sarasota Blues Festival VIP Offering Doesn’t Fit

The Sarasota Blues and Music Festival is irking me with its $75 VIP tickets. VIP? In a parking lot across from Ed Smith Stadium? Whatever! Read my outrage at this week’s Sense and the City column in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Observer, Herald-Tribune alumnus releases debut novel

Surely you remember the name Roger Drouin. During his stint as the Sarasota Herald-Tribune‘s city hall reporter between 2007 and 2009, Drouin landed countless local stories on the front page of our daily — notching scoop after scoop. When he left the paper, it was to earn his MFA in the Florida Atlantic University creative […]

Pelican Press alumnus launches new online Sarasota news outlet

It’s rare to report about a new publication opening up shop, but I’m happy to pass along the news: Former Pelican Press Editor Rachel Brown Hackney has launched a new electronic publication dedicated to all things local. The name? The Sarasota News Leader. Right now, it looks like your typical blog, but the long-term goal […]

Women Make Great Entrepreneurs!

My Sarasota Herald-Tribune Sense & the City column this week profiles Flori Roberts, co-founder of Smart Cover Cosmetics and an honoree this year for Girls Inc of Sarasota County’s She Knows Where She’s Going award. Roberts is a fascinating, charming woman — the kind you’d like for your best friend. Click here to read Flori […]

Reinvent Yourself at Renaissance Luncheon

I doubt there’s a woman alive who hasn’t wanted – or needed — to reinvent herself at some point in her life. While we don’t have to go as far as Madonna (the boy toys, coffee table sex books and faux British accent), a refresher every decade or so or whenever a major life transition […]

Ringling’s Town Hall: Inspirations in Creativity

In today’s Sense and the City column in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune I write about what I learned by going to the Ringling College Library Association’s Town Hall lecture with General Stanley McChrystal. And I give a shout out to Ringling alumnus Brandon Oldenburg whose short film “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” has […]