Monthly Lecture Covers Jimmy Buffett’s Love Of The Keys

Islamorada, FL – When book editor Dan Burkhardt needed someone to write the introduction to his coffee-table book about the Everglades and Florida Bay, he couldn’t think of anyone more qualified than Jimmy Buffett. What resulted was an unanticipated original essay where Jimmy told the little-known story of how his love of the area developed. 
 
Come hear Burkhardt, author and conservationist, as he presents, How One Movie Hooked Jimmy Buffet on the Everglades and Florida Keys, on the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 24, at the Keys History & Discovery Center in Islamorada. The Center opens at 5 p.m. and the presentation begins at 6 p.m., with a book-signing to follow. The presentation and book-signing are part of the Keys History & Discovery Center Presents… lecture series.
 
You know his songs and his stories about the Florida Keys and Key West, but his love of the Everglades and Florida Keys came about long before his fame. It was 1958 when Jimmy Buffett took his first trip to South Florida – the same year a movie, Wind Across the Everglades, starring Burl Ives was released. Upon seeing the movie’s colorful cast of characters and its vivid images of the Everglades, Jimmy was hooked! He turned his love of the Florida Keys into a life of music, sport fishing, diving, boating, seafood and sunsets, sharing the magic of Florida Bay and the mysteries of the Everglades through his lyrics. 
 
Hear from Burkhardt, watch a rare clip from Wind Across the Everglades, and view some of the many exquisite photos from Florida Bay Forever, currently on display. For those interested in watching the movie in full, it will be shown in the Discovery Center’s state-of-the-art theater, starting at 4 p.m., prior to the presentation.
 
Florida Bay Forever celebrates the vision and decades-long efforts of the Everglades Foundation to ensure a healthy Everglades and Florida Bay. Remarkably, the Foundation started in Islamorada in 1994 by two fishing buddies and neighbors – George Barley and Paul Tudor Jones. You will learn more about their legacy and the precarious situation of Florida Bay today. 
 
Cost for non-Discovery Center members is $25 and includes admission to the movie and museum as well as light appetizers. A cash bar will be available. Reservations are recommended and can be made at 305-922-2237 or [email protected].
 
The Discovery Center is in Islamorada, MM 82, located at the Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost. The Center is open Thursdays through Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $12. Admission for seniors is $10 and children 13-under are free. Florida Keys History and Discovery Foundation is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization operating the Keys History & Discovery Center.
 
For more information, call 305-922-2237 or go to www.keysdiscovery.com.
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