Profiles in Courage

A few months ago, I ran into Naples architect Andrea Clark Brown at a Naples party. I'd heard that Brown had been battling breast cancer, but she looked radiant. I asked how she was doing, and she said, "I feel more alive than I've ever been." She'd completed

her treatments and the prognosis was good, but it was more than that, she said. Cancer had brought her "right to the core of what it is to be human," making her treasure every relationship and moment. Surrounded by the clinking of cocktail glasses and party chit-chat, we had a conversation so intense and real that it moved us both to tears, and it left me wondering what else we could learn from those struggling with this pervasive disease.

I asked Steve Wheeler, founding director of Naples' Cancer Alliance Network, to help assemble a panel of cancer survivors, and he enlisted six remarkable men and women. They range from an 18-year-old senior at Naples' Barron Collier High to a Fort Myers philanthropist in his 70s. Some have been cancer-free for years, and others are fighting for their lives against heavy odds. Steve and I worked on a list of questions, and we planned to spend an hour in a roundtable discussion.

That's not exactly what happened. Question No. 1 was, "Tell us a little about your experience with cancer," and the first person Steve called on began talking. For the next 20 minutes, she held us spellbound, sparking laughter, nods of recognition and surreptitious tears. Then the next person plunged into another riveting tale of despair and hope. Two hours later, the last person finished his story. We never did progress beyond that first question, but I realized we didn't need to-those true-life stories were more powerful than any roundtable could have been.

We journalists tend to immerse ourselves in a story and then move on, but I keep thinking about those courageous men and women. Each has managed to wrest meaning from the ordeal, and their struggles have enlarged their lives in surprising ways. Frank Haskell, for example, was diagnosed with stage-four melonoma soon after his 32-year-old daughter learned she had breast cancer; though he survived, she didn't. But he and his wife started a cancer fund that has helped hundreds of children and brought the couple immense joy.

When Naples obstetrician Frank Adiutori realized he would have to give up medicine because of a brain tumor, he fought through depression by deciding that if he could no longer be an outstanding doctor, he would focus for the rest of his days on being an outstanding husband and father-and that, he says, has made his life better than it was before. All of us can learn from this inspiring group; their stories begin on page 92.

In this issue you'll also learn about a famous Southwest Florida tradition. This month Collier County hosts the annual Budweiser Fall Classic, the world's only swamp buggy racing spectacular and a fast-disappearing part of our state's backwoods culture. Three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Peter B. Gallagher traveled to Naples last fall and spring to immerse himself in the festivities; he traveled through history, too, deep into the muddy roots of the buggies and the swamps that birthed them. In "Last Stand of the Swamp Creatures" [p. 80], he captures the heart and soul of the races, which he writes combine "the peculiar ingenuity the Florida Cracker has for mud and machine with the righteous celebration of God, family, Dixie, beer, camouflage and Collier County carryin'-on."

In August, the Florida Magazine Association awarded Gallagher a second and third place for Best Feature Story for two pieces he did for us last year: "The Rise and Fall of Chief James Billie" and "High Times in Everglades City." The Chief Billie piece also won a statewide award for Best Feature Story from the Florida Society of Professional Journalists-the only magazine entry to be so honored.

Gulfshore Life was also recognized by the FMA-twice-for Best Column, with Robert Plunket's "Culture Vulture" winning bronze, and Gerald Hausman's "Pine Island Soundings" bringing home the gold. And-drumroll, please-we were named Best-Written Magazine, tying for the gold with our sister publication, SARASOTA. That's a measure of the talent of our staff as well as our contributors, since our hard-working editors write more than half of each issue, and their dedication to excellence shapes every page.

Congratulations to each one: Katie Betz, Marsha Fottler, Tracy Jones, Kay Kipling, Rebecca Loveridge, Hobart Rowland and Nanci Theoret.