Wild Kingdoms: Craig Pittman on the World’s Most Beautiful Orchid, Jose Castro on The Sharks of North America, Jessica Speart on the World’s Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler and Larry Perez on An Everglades Invasion
Sunday, Nov. 18, 10:30 a.m., Batten (Building 2, 1st Floor, Room 2106)
Author(s) and Guest(s)
Craig Pittman Craig Pittman
Journalist Craig Pittman, The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid (University Press of Florida, $24.95) takes readers into the high-stakes, high-dollar world of rare orchids. When one of the most sought-after orchids in the world shows up at a Sarasota botanical gardens a drama blooms, complete with search warrants, grand jury investigations and criminal charges. Pittman writes about environmental issues for many Florida newspapers.
Dr. José I. Castro
Dr. José I. Castro’s The Sharks of North America (Oxford University Press, $99.00) is the first comprehensive book on North American sharks in 60 years. The illustrated book synthesizes decades of research and first-hand examination of 135 species of sharks collected in fisheries and research operations across the continent, as it dispels many myths and misunderstandings found in the scientific and popular literature. Dr. Castro has been studying sharks for the last 30 years. He is a research scientist with NOAA Fisheries Service and a Senior Scientist with Mote Marine Laboratory. Dr. Castro is a well-known lecturer and photographer, and the author of numerous articles on shark biology.
Jessica Speart
In Winged Obsession(William Morrow, $15.99) freelance journalist Jessica Speart answers the question: Who would smuggle butterflies, and why? Speart's research takes her around the world, delving into the seedy underbelly of illegal butterfly trading, the downfall of the "Indiana Jones" of the butterfly world, and the rookie Fish and Wildlife agent who put his life on the line to stop him. "Fantastic a journey with the twists and turns of a taut thriller - like The Orchid Thief, only with wings."-The Daily Candy.
Larry Perez
Nonnative Burmese pythons--one of the largest snakes on the planet--are now known to be reproducing freely in the shallow waters of the Everglades. Though scientists work feverishly to learn as much as possible about this invader, no one has come up with a solution. Snake in the Grass: An Everglades Invasion (Pineapple Press, $16.95) reveals the implications of the spread of this insidious predator. Perez has worked as a ranger in Biscayne and Everglades National Parks. He is the writer and producer of Everglades by Car: A Narrated Audio Tour of Everglades National Park, and the author of the Journal of Florida's Watchable Wildlife: Reptiles and Amphibians andWords on the Wilderness: A History of Place Names in South Florida's National Parks.
Schedule
Location
Miami Book Fair International * Miami Dade College
300 NE Second Ave., Miami, FL 33132
Batten (Building 2, 1st Floor, Room 2106)
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