Episode 31: Craig Pittman

On our Season One finale our guest is Craig Pittman. Craig is a native Floridian, a best-selling author, a podcaster and an award-winning reporter. Born in Pensacola, he graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him "the most destructive force on campus." In 40 years as a newspaper reporter, he covered a variety of beats and quite a few natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and the Florida Legislature. After 31 years at the Tampa Bay Times, he now writes a weekly column on environmental issues for the Florida Phoenix and is co-host of the popular podcast "Welcome to Florida." He's the author of six non-fiction books about what he calls "The Most Interesting State," including the New York Times bestseller Oh, Florida: How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country. He's also the author of Cat Tale: The Wild Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther, which Garden & Gun magazine named one of the 20 best books of 2020. His most recent one, published in 2021, is The State You're In: Florida Men, Florida Women, and Other Wildlife. The Florida Heritage Book Festival named him a Florida Literary Legend in 2020. In 2022 he was given the Rachel Carson Award by the Sierra Club. He lives in St. Petersburg with his wife and two children. His work can be found at craigpittman.com