The Miami Herald
Florida Outdoors Guide 1989 [The Miami Herald]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Florida Outdoors Guide 1989
The Miami Herald
Articles by Hope in the 1989 Florida Outdoors Guide included reports on the Florida Everglades, artificial reefs, sunken ships, and Pennekamp Park. Two more, on hiking through Florida’s trails and the old hideaway of Flamingo, are listed below.
She wrote several more travel pieces for the 1988 guide (see those articles below).
In fact, this experience led her to write additional travel articles for New Miami magazine, The Washington Post, and several other publications.
See TRAVEL articles, listed in the General Interest category, for more.
Many thanks to the guide’s editor, Ken Millman, for giving me this early opportunity.
Hiking / Camping Florida’s Trails [The Miami Herald]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Florida Outdoors Guide
The Miami Herald
No trip to Florida would be complete without a hike through the some of the state’s 1,000 miles of trails—many of which have been cleared by 5,000-plus members of the Florida Trail Association. Founder Ken Kern is a 54-year-old nature enthusiast who blazed those trails about three decades ago, soon after the U.S. Navy transferred him to Florida to make an underwater film. On his off-days, he wanted to head inland and explore the terrain. He was disappointed to find, however, that Florida had no hiking trails. “I’ve been an avid hiker since he was a boy tramping through a 10-acre patch of birch and sassafras trees near my home in New Jersey,” he recalls. “I realized I’d traveled thousands of miles to this beautiful place—and there was nowhere to hike.” So Kerns came up with a scheme. He’d start a hiking club, and to attract members he’d hike 160 miles through Florida—and ask anyone interested to join him.
Flamingo: Florida Bay’s Historic Hideaway [The Miami Herald]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Florida Outdoors Guide
The Miami Herald
In 1905, the small rural town of Flamingo, FL made headlines when two poachers killed Guy Bradleg, the local warden and animal preservationist whose mission was to protect wildlife in the Everglades. He’d caught the men picking off some wild birds with shotguns, and when Bradleg drew his gun the shooters turned theirs on him. He was killed instantly. The poachers fled to the Keys where they were eventually captured. But news of the shooting made the front page of The New York Times. Preservations from around the world picked up on the story, and within weeks launched a campaign to save wildlife of the Florida Everglades. Finally, in 1947, President Harry Truman declared the Everglades a national park dedicated to the protection of endangered species, birds and wildlife indigenous to the region. Today the park is home to 350 species of birds, hammerhead, lemon and black tip sharks, manatees, alligators, crocodiles, otters and green sea turtles.
Florida Outdoors Guide, 1988
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Florida Outdoors Guide
The Miami Herald
Hope Gibbs (then Hope Katz) was the assistant editor of the special publications department at The Miami Herald from 1987-1989 and worked on dozens of advertorial sections ranging from education and health care to the Florida Outdoors Guide.
Topics in the 1988 book included writing about the winners of the Metropolitian South Florida Fishing Tournament and a couple that was married 21-feet beneath the waters at the Christ of the Abyss Statue at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.
She wrote several more travel pieces for the 1989 guide (see those articles above).
Many thanks to my editor Al Meserschmidt for giving me this early opportunity.
Angling for the MET [The Miami Herald]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Florida Outdoors Guide
The Miami Herald
The sea is calm, the fishing rods baited. The captain and angler onboard know where the fish are supposed to be, so now, they sit and wait for the catch-of-the-day. Such a scene is commonplace around the waters of South Florida, but for Jim Anson his awards are testimony to the fact that he is a Master Angler. For the second year, the Miami businessman has won the top title in the METropolitan South Florida Fishing Tournament (MET). Criteria for the award: at least five exceptional catches. A 360-pound shark was Anson’s winning entry in the Fly Division. He also topped the scales in other divisions, having landed a 190-pound, eight-ounce jewfish, a 97-pound tarpon, a 50-pound amberjack, a 49-pound Wahoo, and a 27-pound barracuda. Anson said his success secret is very simple. “All it takes is a lot of dedication, hard work and a great captain.”
Couple dons wetsuits for Pennekamp wedding [The Miami Herald]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Florida Outdoors Guide
The Miami Herald
Marilyn Robinson and Scott Hutchinson didn’t want a traditional wedding. The couple from Clearwater were each married before and had done the white lace and black tales bit. They calculated a reception would cost $10,000, “and that’s just too much dough to spend all so our friends can get dressed up and drink themselves silly,” Hutchinson confides. No, this time was going to be unique, different, and a bit exotic. They decided to get married beside the Christ of the Abyss Statue at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park—a one-ton bronze statue 21 feet down. With arms extended toward the ocean surface, Hutchinson thought getting married beside the monument would make for a romantic, spiritual memory that would last a lifetime. Robinson was game. She had received her diver’s certification just six weeks prior, and was eager to show off her new skills to her groom, who has been diving for the past 20 years. “It’s legal, and something we’ll be able to brag about to our kids,” Hutchinson said just moments before the big leap.
Prince of Darkness [Tropic magazine, The Miami Herald]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Tropic magazine, The Miami Herald
September 13, 1992
HE PROPOSED ON VALENTINE’S DAY. After a candlelit dinner, he gave me a homemade valentine with a map of our apartment hidden inside. He kissed me very softly on the lips before sending me off to look for the treasure.
I found it inside a pink velvet box tucked under one of his neatly folded navy blue socks. A shiny round diamond mounted on a thin gold band sparkled up at me. From the moment he slipped it on my finger, I sparkled, too.
My little girl dream of discovering the prince who would carry me off to the altar became my reality. I could feel the band on the palm of my hand, and it felt so very real. Our love would last forever.
It was on a sunny July Saturday, a week after my bridal shower, that the fairy tale started to melt.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE for more.
Daddy's Girl [Tropic magazine, The Miami Herald]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
Tropic magazine, The Miami Herald
March 27, 1988
I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED TRYING to write a letter to my father. I could only think of four things to say—three of them had to do with the weather. And the worst part: I couldn’t sign it, “I love you.”
Of course I love my father. I tell him that all the time when he calls, mostly because we have nothing else to say. We each make sure that the other is “fine,” that our respective jobs are “fine” and that the last time we spoke to members of our family they were all “fine,” too.
Now I am trying to remember when “fine” took the place of really talking to my dad.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE for more.