Jeff Klinkenberg writes about Florida culture and the people who make the state unique. He joined the Times in 1977, and his work takes him from Pensacola to Key West.

Klinkenberg's interest in Florida began when he was a small boy growing up in Miami on the edge of the Everglades. He jokes he was a charter member of "the boys without dates'' club because of hobbies that included catching snakes. He started working at the Miami News when he was 16 and later became a journalism graduate of the University of Florida. His new book, which collects favorite columns, is Pilgrim in the Land of Alligators, published by University Press of Florida. Another anthology, Seasons of Real Florida, is also in print.

Phone: (727) 893-8727

E-mail: klink@tampabay.com