| The Gainesville Sun Hiaasen says Florida's zaniness gives him lots to write about By Nathan Crabbe
Staff writer Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Columnist and novelist Carl Hiaasen doesn't want to see a tourist killed by one of the pythons loose in the Everglades, but he wouldn't mind a bit of a struggle. Award-winning journalist and University of Florida alumnus Carl Hiaasen discussed his experiences as an investigative journalist and columnist for The Miami Herald and answered questions from the audience Tuesday evening March 2, 2010 at UF's Bob Graham Center for Public Service. "I'm all for anything that scares tourists away from South Florida," he said. Hiaasen spoke Tuesday to about 350 people at the University of Florida's Graham Center for Public Service. A UF journalism graduate, Hiaasen is a Miami Herald columnist and author of satirical novels set in Florida. He recounted a zoo's worth of Florida incidents involving animals that he incorporated into his work. From the hunt for escaped monkeys after Hurricane Andrew to the case a man whose relationship with a pet goat ended badly, Hiaasen said some of his best material comes from real life. "That's where this stuff comes from," he said. "It's never that far from the truth." Hiaasen was asked about a recent incident -- the Sea World trainer killed by an orca -- that follows the state's trend for making strange news. The incident raises questions about whether a higher power put whales on the planet to perform tricks, he said. "Once you start treating them like a Labrador retriever, there's something a little obscene about that," he said. He said he's sometimes criticized for being a cynic because he mocks politicians in his writing. He offered the same advice that he said he gave to students before the event -- that it's surrender to look the other way when wrongdoing happens. "It isn't cynicism to be angry and to be outraged ... It's just the opposite," he said. He said his novels provide psychotherapy by allowing him to kill off bad guys such as crooked lobbyists in gruesome ways. He traced back his proclivity for writing about shady characters to his days writing a column for the Independent Florida Alligator in the early 1970s. "We had a felon in the White House," he said. "You can't ask for anything more." Hiaasen railed against out-of-control development, saying he supported the Florida Hometown Democracy amendment for offering a voice to citizens. Calling Florida "a place that's hard not to love," he said he thought people were tired of seeing the loss of the state's natural beauty. "There's a huge constituency for saving what's left of Florida," he said. http://www.graham.centers.ufl.edu/article/carl-hiaasen-carl-florida "It isn't cynicism to be angry and to be outraged ... It's just the opposite," he said. He said his novels provide psychotherapy by allowing him to kill off bad guys such as crooked lobbyists in gruesome ways. He traced back his proclivity for writing about shady characters to his days writing a column for the Independent Florida Alligator in the early 1970s. "We had a felon in the White House," he said. "You can't ask for anything more." Hiaasen railed against out-of-control development, saying he supported the Florida Hometown Democracy amendment for offering a voice to citizens. Calling Florida "a place that's hard not to love," he said he thought people were tired of seeing the loss of the state's natural beauty. "There's a huge constituency for saving what's left of Florida," he said. http://www.graham.centers.ufl.edu/article/carl-hiaasen-carl-florida He said his novels provide psychotherapy by allowing him to kill off bad guys such as crooked lobbyists in gruesome ways. He traced back his proclivity for writing about shady characters to his days writing a column for the Independent Florida Alligator in the early 1970s."We had a felon in the White House," he said. "You can't ask for anything more." | 
