Welcome to Florida: Launch Celebration with Craig Pittman – St. Petersburg, FL

In Welcome to Florida, award-winning investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Craig Pittman introduces readers to the people, creatures, places, and issues that make up the Florida of today.

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Tombolo Books welcomes back our friend Craig Pittman to celebrate the launch of his new essay collection, Welcome to Florida! Pittman and fellow local author Paul Wilborn will be in conversation to chat about what makes Florida “The Most Interesting State.”

Welcome to Florida is both a love letter to and hilarious deep dive into the nation’s fastest-growing state. Imbued with Pittman’s characteristic humor and undeniable fondness for both the weird and wonderful parts of his home, this book shows why, despite some of its reputations, Florida continues to prove irresistible.

Craig Pittman is a native Floridian and an award-winning journalist. He wrote for the Tampa Bay Times for 30 years and now writes for the Florida Phoenix. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller Oh, Florida! How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country; The State You’re In: Florida Men, Florida Women, and Other Wildlife; and The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Beautiful Orchid. He is cohost of the Welcome to Florida podcast. Pittman was named a Florida Literary Legend by the Florida Heritage Book Festival in 2020.

As a journalist, Paul Wilborn has won multiple awards from the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. He won the Green Eyeshade Award from the Atlanta Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, the South’s top writing prize. Based on a selection of his writing, Wilborn was chosen for the Paul Hansel Award, Florida’s top journalism prize. He was a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. His plays have been produced at Stageworks, Off-Center Theater, Radio Theater Project, and University of Michigan. Wilborn is the Executive Director of the Palladium Theater at St. Petersburg College and lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, the film actor Eugenie Bondurant.