Conference Overview
The Hero (and Anti-hero) in the Sunshine State: Conchs, Crackers, Crooks, Explorers, Pioneers, Detectives, Poets, Lovers . . .

FCEA President Steve Glassman opened the conference with a meeting of the Executive Board at the Restaurant of the Imperial Swan Hotel on Wednesday evening, November 8^th.  Among the business discussed at the meeting was the selection of Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce as the site for the 2007 conference with April Van Camp as the program chair. The Board also discussed an amendment to the Bylaws proposed by President Glassman and agreed to take the proposal to the general membership at the FCEA business meeting Friday morning, where it was approved.  

On Thursday, November 9^th, the conference got off to a  big start with the Plenary session featuring Jim Rogers and Alexander Bruce, professors from Florida Southern College, with presentations on Frank Lloyd Wright and his architecture at Florida Southern College. All day Thursday and Friday until noon, FCEA members participated in breakout sessions on topics related to the conference theme, The Hero (and anti-Hero) in the Sunshine State, and in other sessions on Florida Studies, literary criticism, rhetoric, popular culture, pedagogy, and African-American Studies. Several sessions featured  poets reading their work, including the Thursday afternoon Coffee House, where listeners also relaxed to the guitar music of Professors Rich McKee of The Ringling School of Art and Design and Harry Papagan of Macon State College. In all, around 115 presenters and panelists took part, and many others joined them as their audience.

               At noon on Friday, November 10^th, conference activities shifted to the Hollis Room at FSC, where everyone enjoyed a fine luncheon. Professor Socky O’Sullivan of Rollins College then introduced Dick Adicks, Professor Emeritus of the University of Central Florida, and O’ Sullivan presented him with the FCEA Distinguished Colleague Award. Next, the featured guest writer, Florida author Tim Dorsey, regaled the audience with a lively speech and readings from his novels. After Dorsey’s book-signing, Mr. Mark Tlachac led a guided tour of Florida Southern’s collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.

This conference offered a great experience to everyone involved. The FCEA  is looking forward to a super conference next year in Fort Pierce.  
                                                                                                              Submitted by Keith Huneycutt

Fall 2006 Board Minutes
Final Conference Schedule

Florida English


If you did not sign the address list at the registration table of  the Lakeland conference to have this year's issue of Florida English mailed to you, please send an email to Associate Editor, Jeff Grieneisen, grienej@mccfl.edu that includes your preferred mailing address.  Also, if you know of any FCEA members at your institution who were unable to do so, or did not attend the conference, please advise them to do the same.  The journal will be arriving in two weeks or less.  Thanks very much for your patience and understanding.  And please send us your poems, essays, short stories, etc. for consideration for the 2007 issue.  See the Florida English  webpage for submission guidelines.  
Spread the word. 
Also, please contact Jeff if you would like to order additional copies to disseminate to your departments and college libraries.

Members of  the FCEA Executive Board for the 
2006-2007 year are:

Keith Huneycutt, President
April Van Camp, Vice President and Conference Chair
William Wall, Executive Secretary
Rich McKee, Treasurer
Steve Glassman, Immediate Past President
Deborah Coxwell-Teague
Patricia Feito
Carol Policy
Socky O'Sullivan, CEA Liaison
Jane Anderson Jones, Webweaver
Claudia Slate, Florida Studies Editor
Rich McKee, Jeff Grieneisen, Courtney Ruffner, Florida English  Associate Editors

The Executive Board