Through Florida Historical Society, Walkin' Lawton is now available for pre-order. Copies will ship in late November.
Order your copy now by clicking this LINK and then choosing the Walkin' Lawton book cover!
Let me know if there are any problems with the link. Ordering information for Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble online will be available soon.
Enjoy!
Lots to do and so little time...
Florida Historical Society will be publishing Walkin' Lawton, the first authorized biography of Florida politician Lawton Chiles, in a couple months.
There is a huge amount of promotion to do.
This work will include Chiles-related editorials, outreach to reporters, and outreach to the political class.
The trail is well-worn and I need a new pair of boots!
The Tampa Bay Times, formerly known as the The St. Petersburg Times, published a new article of mine today.
The column primarily discusses the strong prospects for solar energy to revive Florida's economy. It also advises Florida's governor to learn from the Lawton Chiles legacy as he crafts an energy agenda for the state. The tag line to the column advertises my forthcoming Lawton Chiles biography, Walkin' Lawton.
The book will be available in electronic and paperback editions on barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com.
I hope to organize book signings and other supporting events in several Florida locations and elsewhere: Washington, DC, Annapolis, MD, and New Haven, CT.
We expect the book to be released around Election Day, to capitalize on the fervor of political season.
The next bulletin will probably discuss a definite release date and options for pre-ordering copies.
Chiles served as a U.S. senator from Florida from 1970 to 1988, and served as Florida's governor from 1990 to 1998. He passed away in 1998. He left a lasting public legacy on diverse issues: infant mortality, prenatal and neonatal care, government transparency, and tobacco control.
Thank you for your interest.
Another summer of intensive editorial composition has begun.
I will be spreading the Chiles legacy message across Florida print media. I will strive for geographic diversity.
Also, I will deliver the final version of my manuscript to the publisher very soon. The official editing will then begin.
We're still looking at a fall book release.
See you on the Chiles Trail.
The final version of the manuscript is heading to the publisher very soon.
I saw this article today about turkey hunting and Lawton Chiles.
There is no end to this man's mystery. I don't mean "mystery" in the everyday, prosaic sense. I mean the Hamlet, "pluck out the heart of my mystery" sense.
Some great quotes and vignettes in this piece.
More updates soon.
Manuscript revision is still at a frenetic pace. Even well-established paragraphs and phrasings are getting a polish.
I compare it to polishing silver. It's labor-intensive but the final shine is magnificent. The shine then deserves an audience.
The book publicity is suspended temporarily. Op-eds and other promotional efforts will restart soon--probably next month sometime.
As the 17th Annual Children’s Week draws to a close, Florida’s failing grades on children’s quality of life should be a call-to-arms for the state’s political class—especially Gov. Rick Scott.
Among states, Florida ranks 49th in the number of children with health insurance. The state is tied for last in prekindergarten quality and 46th in prekindergarten investment.
The crisis in afterschool programs is staggering; Florida ranks 40th in percent of children unsupervised after school.
At 23.5 percent, Florida has one of the highest child poverty rates; only 15 states plus Washington, DC rank worse.
Judging states based on a variety of national indicators, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count program ranked Florida 36th overall in 2011.
Gov. Scott should consult Lawton Chiles’ gubernatorial legacy for ideas on how to address this crisis.
Chiles’ governorship, from 1990 to 1998, provides a blueprint for how the state can partner with families to care for Florida’s children.
By the time Chiles rose to the governorship, after three terms in the U.S. Senate, he had concluded that early childhood heath care was the key to successful social reform.
“He was determined that this was the way to get to these intractable social conditions,” explained his wife Rhea, who collaborated with Gov. Chiles on many children’s initiatives, “that there was no other way but this was the one string to pull out of the snarl—if you got to children soon enough, early enough…you could eventually improve the crop. If you prepare the seed crop, you could eventually grow a better product.”
A small front-end investment in children, according to the Chiles philosophy, would pay dividends down the line in lower crime, better education, high incomes, and a balanced budget.
Chiles was adamant that once children became teenagers and young adults, the opportunity for government to facilitate their development was gone.
The first five years of a child’s development were the most crucial in his estimation. “At birth,” the governor said, “the brain has about 100 billion neurons. By age 1, that figure explodes to 1,000 trillion. Talking to children, showing them games, even playing classical music to them during these first years can make a difference of 20 IQ points—an astounding implication for the state as it struggles to provide good childcare for mothers who are leaving welfare for work.”
Chiles’ signature children’s initiatives, especially Healthy Kids and Healthy Start, paid quick dividends. His policies reduced Florida infant mortality rate, expanded health insurance access, and raised the children’s immunization rate.
Today, Florida can benefit from this wisdom. It must repair society at the source.
To address its worst problems—high unemployment, high foreclosure rates, and poor health care access—the state must once again become a healthy place to raise a child.
As the Legislature debates the budget, Gov. Scott should fight for investments in Healthy Start, Healthy Kids, afterschool mentoring programs, and voluntary pre-kindergarten.
Such advocacy would be a reversal of his approach to his first budget.
But the governor’s new stance on K-12 education funding proves he has the ability to change course on major public policy. His call for freezing tuition at state colleges and universities adds credibility to his overhaul.
He justified his resistance to tuition hikes by citing his commitment to cutting cost in hard times.
Florida will save money in the long-term if it makes new investments now in children at their earliest stage of development.
“First base is our children,” said Lawton Chiles. “The answer to all of our pressing problems begins with the child.”
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For paying subscribers to The Tallahassee Democrat, this article is also available online at the newspaper: http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20120204/OPINION05/202040307/John-Coggin-Like-Gov-Chiles-we-should-champion-children-s-issues
Or you can click here.
