Speakers

Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen graduated from the University of Florida in 1974; he was honored by UF College of Journalism as an alumnus of distinction in 1992 and as a UF distinguished alumnus in 2003. He has an outstanding reputation as an investigative journalist. A three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, Hiaasen is a columnist at The Miami Herald and has written over 1300 pieces exposing land corruption scams, drug smuggling rings, dangerous doctors, and corrupt politicians. For his journalism and commentary, Hiaasen received the Damon Runyon Award from the Denver Press Club in 2003-2004.

As a best-selling author, Hiaasen’s books skewer the greedy and corrupt with intelligence and humor, combining mystery plotlines, wicked satire, sharp observations, and a bizarre cast of characters. Recent works include Sick Puppy and Skinny Dip. With his insight, humor, and a killer instinct for stories, Hiaasen has certainly earned the respect of his contemporaries. Dave Barry, his colleague at The Miami Herald, calls him "one of South Florida's most vital natural resources, a relentlessly sane voice in a howling hurricane of hypocrisy, hokum and hype.”

Hiaasen began writing novels in the early 1980s with his good friend and distinguished journalist, the late William D. Montalbano. Together they wrote three mystery thrillers -- Powder Burn, Trap Line and Death in China -- which borrowed heavily from their own reporting experiences. Hiaasen's fiction mirrors his concerns as a journalist and Floridian. His novels have been classified as "environmental thrillers" and are usually found on the crime shelves in bookstores, although they can just as well be read as mainstream satires of contemporary life. Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his family. More information is available at www.carlhiaasen.com.

Michael Shuman

Michael Shuman, an attorney and economist, is Vice President for Enterprise Development for the Training & Development Corporation of Bucksport, Maine. He has written, co-written, or edited seven books, including most recently, The SmallMart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition. He has written nearly one hundred published articles for periodicals such as New York Times, Washington Post, Nation, Weekly Standard, Foreign Policy, Parade, and The Chronicle on Philanthropy. His books and articles have explored people, practices, and policies in the fields of technology, national security, citizen diplomacy, municipal foreign policy, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and business development. Shuman has also appeared on numerous television and radio shows, such as the Lehrer News Hour and NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and is a periodic commentator on NPR’s "All Things Considered."

In recent years Shuman has been addressing what local communities can do to create vibrant, self-reliant, community-based economic networks. He is a founder of the Business Allaince for Local Living Economies (BALLE), an international alliance of 34 independently operated local business networks working to create a sustainable global economy. Local living economies build long-term economic empowerment and prosperity through local business ownership, economic justice, cultural diversity, and environmental stewardship.

While in Gainesville for the Campus and Community Sustainability Conference, Michael will also be working with local business leaders and members of the local BALLE network, the Business Alliance of Greater Gainesville (BAGG), to create a sustainable community-based business network in Gainesville.

Michael has also promoted local-economy concepts through a variety of projects, including: creating a small-business venture capital fund in New Mexico; launching a community-owned company; organizing university-government-business collaborations to study opportunities for import replacement; analyzing the impact of devolution in the former Soviet Union for the United Nations Development Program; preparing a buy-local guide and coupon book for Annapolis; developing a web site to support marketing by family farmers; serving as a senior editor for a recently published Encyclopedia of Community; and building the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.

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