From the Editor

Paradise? Or paradise lost? You see the headlines about the exploding growth here and the snarled traffic and the environmental issues and you wonder if people in this lovely corner of Florida are losing a little of their passion for being here. We wanted to find out and thus-with our partners from NBC2-commissioned a quality-of-life survey of local citizens. You'll see the results on p. 52, but, rest assured, we're basically a happy lot along the Gulfshore-even as we express our candid views on healthcare, the arts, shopping, the high cost of living and the headlines mentioned above.

There's no wonder, though, about the local commitment to two other pursuits-golf and wine. It's total . and that's why we're starting columns dedicated to each, starting in this issue.

Our golf column, Fore! (p. 147), is written by Len Shapiro, who covers golf for The Washington Post and is a past president of the Golf Writers Association of America. What can we expect from him?

"The Naples area," says Shapiro, "has long been a hotbed for golf, as well as the home of some of the game's finest players, amateur and professional, male and female. There are countless stories waiting to be mined on the practice tees, the greens and fairways and inside the locker rooms all around town, and all of the above will be fair game for a writer who loves to tell stories about a game he's adored since his teen-age caddying days. There's a rich cast of golfing characters in Southwest Florida, big names and no names, and plenty of issues to tackle, as well."

When looking for the right person to write our Wine World column (p. 143), we kept hearing "John Vega, John Vega, John Vega. Look no further." A Naples native, lawyer and contract bridge life master, Vega characterizes his fascination with the world of wine as "a sign of a misspent youth." He says he's had this passion for wine for two decades. "Part of its allure," he says, "is that its study is never complete. Even if it were possible to know and have an opinion on every wine ever produced, a new vintage is always just around the corner. Combined with emerging wine regions, the cross-pollination of techniques internationally and advances in viticulture as well as wine-making practices, wine is a subject that never stands still. In this column, I plan to examine various facets of the world of wine-whatever seems interesting and timely. Topics will range from the pricing of Bordeaux futures to the myths and realities of the red-wine headache. Sometimes serious-occasionally irreverent-I hope it will always be thought-provoking."

One further note of change: In evolving a magazine that will serve you best, we've realigned some features in this issue so that you'll have a new calendar highlights page in the front of the book-while the calendar itself moves to the back as a reference guide. And we will also run highlights from the popular Flash! pages in the front of the magazine.

Hurricane Romance

Going forward, I'd like to reserve this space for the slice-of-life anecdote or vignette that captures the very spirit and ambiance of Southwest Florida. I invite you to send me such nuggets as you come across them.

This month's entry comes from the people at Yamron Jewelers and begins in the wake of Hurricane Wilma. With electricity just restored to the Waterside shop, they were spending the day getting the store ready again for customers. Suddenly, there was an urgent knocking on the door. "Let me in," called out a mature gentleman. "You must let me in!" "We're closed," said a Yamron person. "Listen," replied the gentleman, "Wilma left me stranded at home with my lady friend, one thing led to another, I proposed, and I need an engagement ring right now!" The customer is always right, and the Yamron forces rallied to his need and sent him on his way with a beautiful ring and a bounce in his step. And if you thought no good could ever come from a hurricane down here, well, take a rain check on that.

-David Sendler