Robert Buccellato

Finding Dan McCarty Robert Buccellato

A thin layer of glass separated him from the crowd; the endless stream of people walking past his open casket, glancing down at his lifeless face. His body lay resting inches from the main rotunda stairway where just a handful of years earlier he could be seen running up in a mix of energy and youthful vigor that would make him Florida's youngest speaker and Governor. South Florida's first Governor, a progressive who was also a realist, McCarty was now stricken by a heart attack. His policies now at the hands of his nemesis, the arch conservative Senate President Charley Johns. But fate and happenstance stepped in and allowed his state to flourish none the less. Finding Dan McCarty is a story about two very different men on similar journeys of personal and professional discovery. On the one hand is an Historian reaching out to the last members of this distant moment in Florida's history to understand the life of a deceased politician, long hidden under a cloak of mystery. The other is a fallen Governor, who left behind in his wake a lasting legacy of achievement. A story which paints vivid portraits of McCarty's many enemies, allies, and the historic events that formed the Governor's thrilling brief life. Written by Robert Buccellato author of the acclaimed "Jimmy Carter in Plains."