The Mangrove Coast The Story of the West Coast of Florida Including Sarasota, Bradenton, St. Petersburg, Ft. Meyers, Tampa, Miami by Karl A. Bickel

FORWARD Karl Bickel lived most of his life in close proximity to the important events that shaped the first half of this century. his business was the news. He ran his business by going where the news was happening and by rubbing shoulders with people who were making it. In 1935 Bickel and his wife, Madira, moved to Sarasota, where his influence remains readily apparent. For 30 years he worked to set high aesthetic, cultural, political and ecological standards for the area. In each of these pursuits, and especially in the last, Madira was his partner and right hand. It was Bickel's dream to see the area develop in the cosmopolitan mode of the colorful and popular resorts he had visited in his travels abroad. While hampered somewhat by locals officials unfamiliar with his goals, he was as inspiration to much of the local populace. These residents now champion his fight to shape the growth of the community in a manner consistent with its unique natural setting; to highlight and preserve it, rather than to spoil it. The Mangrove Coast is a book for naturalists and history buffs to be sure. It is both straightforward and factual, as one might expect from a newspaperman of Bickel's caliber. But there is more - much more - to be found within these covers. The story is related in a most unusual narrative style, poetic, gentle and in spots, distinctly loving. The reader is drawn into Bickel's fascination, and emerges with a newfound appreciation for the area. The news media are more effective and more responsible for Karl Bickel's great efforts. So is Sarasota and, as you will agree, the whole of his beloved mangrove coast.

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