Editor’s Letter

DO YOU NEED A BACKGROUND CHECK? DO YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOUR SPOUSE IS DOING? DO YOU NEED TO DO SURVEILLANCE ON SOMEONE? CRIMINAL AND CIVIL INVESTIGATIONS THAT GET RESULTS. A THREATING EMPLOYEE? IS SOMEONE MISHANDLING YOUR FINANCIAL FUNDS? DO YOU NEED EXECUTIVE PROTECTION?

MICHAEL BARBIERI, PH.D. National & International Investigator and Consultant

• Surveillance • Cheating spouses • Violent termination • Background investigation • Financial fraud

EFRAT K. COHEN – PRESIDENT Licensed Professional Investigator & Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist

Contact us today! 888.714.9411

office@gicagency.com • gicagency.com

Florida Agency A: 1000096

Global Intelligence 1/3SQ B0322.indd 1 1/28/22 3:43 PM

TRUNK SHOW with Gabriel Ofiesh

Friday and Saturday • March 4th and 5th • 10-5pm

204 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach, FL 33444 • 561.272.6654

1185 Third Street South, Naples, FL 34102 • 239.643.8900 Mashpee Commons, Cape Cod, MA 02649 • 508.477.3900

U N I Q U E B O U T I Q U E J E W E L R Y . C O M

Subscription, copy purchasing and distribution

For any changes or questions regarding your subscription, to purchase back issues, or to inquire about distribution points, call circulation at 877/553-5363.

Advertising and event resources

Take advantage of Boca Raton magazine’s prime advertising space—put your ad dollars to work in the premier publication of South Florida. For more information, or to partner with Boca Raton on a community event, call 561/997-8683 ext. 300, or email nicole@bocamag.com.

Custom publishing

Create a magazine tailored to fit the needs and character of your business/organization. Ideal for promotions, special events, introduction of new services, etc. Contact Marie Speed (editor@bocamag.com).

Story queries

Boca Raton magazine values the concerns, interests and knowledge of our readers about the community. Please submit story and profile ideas by email to Marie Speed (editor@bocamag.com). Due to the large volume of pitches, the editor may not respond to all queries. Boca Raton does not accept unsolicited, ready-for-print stories.

Web queries

Submit information regarding our website and online calendar to magazine@bocamag.com.

Letters

Your thoughts and comments are important to us. All letters to the editor may be edited for style, grammar and length. Send letters to the address listed below or to Marie Speed (editor@bocamag.com). Letter to the Editor Boca Raton magazine 1000 Clint Moore Road, #103

Boca Raton, FL 33487

Arts & entertainment

Where to go, what to do and see throughout South Florida. Please submit information regarding galas, art openings, plays, readings, concerts, dance or other performances to John Thomason (john.thomason@ bocamag.com). Deadline for entries in an upcoming A&E section is three months before publication.

Dining guide

Our independent reviews of restaurants in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. A reliable resource for residents and tourists. For more information, contact Christie Galeano-DeMott (christie@bocamag.com).

People

A photo collage of social gatherings and events in Boca Raton and South Florida. All photos submitted should be identified and accompanied by a brief description of the event (who, what, where, when). Email images to people@bocamag.com.

First issue

Boca Raton magazine is published eight times a year. If you have any questions or comments regarding our magazine, call us at 561/997-8683. We’d love to hear from you.

Missing or late issues

Once in a while, production, transportation or the postal service may delay delivery. If you don’t get an issue, or if your magazine is repeatedly late, please call and report your problem to our subscription department at 877/553-5363 or send an email to subscriptions@bocamag.com.

Questions about your invoice

If you have already paid your bill and then receive a new bill, here’s what you should do: 1. If you have paid your bill within the past four weeks, ignore the new invoice. (The computer simply has not given your account credit quickly enough.) 2. It’s most likely that your payment and our notice just crossed in the mail. Check the date on the notice to see when we mailed it. 3. If you get another bill or renewal notice, call our subscription department at 877/553-5363, or send an email to subscriptions@bocamag.com, and we will straighten out the problem.

Change of address

PERMANENT: If you are changing your address, send us your complete old address, complete new address, including ZIP code, and the effective date of the change. You can also leave us a message with your old and new address by calling 877/553-5363. TEMPORARY OR SEASONAL: Please send us your complete permanent address, your complete temporary address and the dates that you want your issues forwarded.

Back issues

If you are interested in purchasing any back issues, please call 877/553-5363, ext. 233, indicating the issue date you would like. The cost of each issue including shipping and handling is $9.95.

Gift subscriptions

You’ll find a subscription to Boca Raton magazine makes a thoughtful and useful gift that lasts throughout the year. If you’d like more information about giving a gift subscription, please call our subscription department at 877/553-5363.

Online subscriptions

Receive additional savings by subscribing online. Visit bocamag.com for more information.

[ For any of the above services, please contact our subscriptions services department. ] CALL TOLL FREE: 877/553-5363 EMAIL: subscriptions@bocamag.com WRITE: Boca Raton magazine Subscription Department 1000 Clint Moore Road, #103 Boca Raton, FL 33487

LOOK AND FEEL TIMELESS

Indulge with Megan Mae Swimwear, made from Italy’s most luxurious ready-to-swim fabrics.

GET YOURS

meganmae.com

The Hiaasen Effect

One Florida voice is still loud and clear

Written by MARIE SPEED

hey don’t make reporters like Carl Hiaasen anymore, which is even truer since he retired last year from the Miami Herald. A satirical firebrand with a penchant for taking down corrupt politicians (he might say that is redundant), he was a force at the Herald, and a voice for the community. It was a natural for him to branch out into comedic satirical novels all those years ago, gaining a national and international following, not to mention selling boatloads of books in a time when most people do not even read. When we interviewed him for this issue (page 50), it was tempting to ask him about politics, especially after his latest Palm Beach-based novel Squeeze Me, but I found myself asking him again and again about Florida: what was left, was there hope, what did he remember from the Before Times?

I know when I moved here in seventh grade, developers were already dredging out bayous and building whole neighborhoods on fill dirt; all of our houses were “waterfront” on man-made canals, and there were jalousie doors and terrazzo floors and seawalls and freeform swimming pools. I’d see porpoises off our dock, and we always had a crab trap going. I grew up on a tidy new cul-de-sac with the sound of construction as a backdrop every day for years; I had no idea back then that I would fall irrevocably in love with this place, or that by the time I had arrived, it was already gone.

Hiaasen suspects it’s pretty much all over now, but he can’t seem to give up on Florida entirely. He has hope that the next generation can help turn the tide of destroying the state through greed and overdevelopment, and that Floridians now at least understand the importance of saving the Everglades, a place that is as dear to him as anything, I’d guess.

It’s a thin glimmer of hope these days, as you see 1,000 people moving to Florida daily (33,000 New Yorkers relocated here during the pandemic alone), or the Ag Reserve being eaten away by country clubs, or more high-rises stacked cheek to jowl on every inch of waterfront along the coast. Still, it’s nice to know that the Carl Hiaasen voice, the creator of Skink, the guy who calls fly fishing his “vicious addiction,” is still at work, still in Florida, still making us laugh. And no matter what he says, I think he’s still fighting for South Florida—which may be his greatest contribution of all.

Everglades National Park