Walkin’ Lawton returns to The Chiles Center
Join author John Dos Passos Coggin on Tuesday, May 21 for an exclusive talk and book signing. This special tour is a “must-attend” event for all people interested in learning how Gov. Lawton Chiles revolutionized advocacy for maternal and child health issues and, most importantly, how he became one of Florida’s most beloved political leaders. The Chiles Center is located at 3111 E. Fletcher Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33613, and the talk begins at 4pm in room 108.
“Lawton Chiles, a populist champion in the state of Florida and nationwide, was a pioneer on fiscal discipline, health care, and open government. In 1970, his thousand-mile walk across Florida won him a U.S. Senate seat and forged a lifelong bond with his state’s land and people.”
Coggin conducted over one hundred interviews with Gov. Lawton Chiles’ friends, family, and former staff to write one of the most popular books published by the Florida Historical Society Press. Walkin’ Lawton already has received praise from high-profile media, political and academic circles calling the work “compelling,” “a marvelous account of Florida’s most colorful politician—Lawton Chiles—in full populist glory,” and “a much needed book about one of the most progressive governors in Southern history.”
John Dos Passos Coggin, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, is a freelance writer and political strategist. He is a graduate of Yale University and holds a master’s degree in public policy from University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Coggin is the grandson of acclaimed novelist John Dos Passos—best known for his U.S.A. trilogy.
Created as a non-profit organization in 1996, the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies is dedicated to determining the most effective strategies, programs and systems for reducing illness and death among mothers, their infants and young children. It brings together experts in health care, program design and evaluation, and maternal and infant care from Florida universities and other state, national, and international programs.
The University of South Florida College of Public Health is the parent organization for The Chiles Center. Its academic home is the Department of Community and Family Health.
For more information on the Walkin’ Lawton talk and book signing, please contact Bobbi Rose at (813) 974-6158 or brose@health.usf.edu.
Written by Heidi K. Curran, The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies
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