Backroads of Paradise

During the Great Depression, the Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) hired writers throughout the United States to develop tour books for each state. The authors of Florida’s book included a white man—Stetson Kennedy—and a Black woman—Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston had already earned accolades for her work while Kennedy’s career was at its beginning. Along with other nameless writers, they chronicled Florida culture for A Guide to the Southernmost State, part of the American Guide series. These writers captured a slice of life along Florida’s roadways just before America’s entry into the Second World War would forever transform the peninsula. More than 70 years later, Cathy traveled nearly 5,000 miles across Florida in a camper to witness how the landscape had changed since the original journey. Her travels delivered her to places the Interstate system bypassed long ago. She also found oases where natural beauty survived the onslaught of overpopulation. These presentations let audiences travel with Cathy on her ‘Great Florida Road Trip’ as she retraces these tours from the 1930s. Along the way Cathy shares the many heartbeats of Florida that beat along its backroads.