View a video recording of our September 10th 2020 forum “Get Back – Saving the Deauville.”
Please make sure to sign the petition if you have not already: click here.
Visit the new website: Save the Deauville!
Speaker Information:
Bob Kealing is founder of three Florida Heritage Sites: The Jack Kerouac House of Orlando (on the National Register of Historic Places – kerouacproject.org); Gram Parsons’ Derry Down, Winter Haven (a historic listening room/concert venue – gpderrydown.com) and in 2019, the Birthplace of the Allman Brothers Band, a Victorian house in Jacksonville’s Riverside District. Kealing is also involved in early discussions to potentially landmark Tom Petty’s boyhood home in Gainesville. He is a six-time Emmy-Award winning journalist, and the author of four books. His newest manuscript-in-progress, tracks the Beatles’ time in 1964 Florida, and will include the ultimate fate of the Deauville Hotel. He is of the belief that the Deauville would easily qualify as a Beatles’ Florida Heritage Site. He would gladly assist/consult free of charge on any Deauville rescue and restoration effort.
Amy Hughes is a graphic designer and former music journalist, photographer, and publicist. Writing for the New England regional publication Metronome Magazine, she interviewed numerous musicians including Don Henley, Bob Geldof, Richard Butler, Jonny Greenwood, Robyn Hitchcock, Glenn Tilbrook, and dozens of Boston-based artists. As a micro-historian, she is currently presenting ‘I’ll Follow The Sun: The Beatles In Florida,’ a two-part retrospective on the band’s visits to Miami and Jacksonville in 1964. She conducted video interviews in 2016 at the Chicago Fest For Beatles Fans and has been fortunate to travel to both London and Liverpool.
Gary McKechnie is a two-time winner of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award and the author of the nation’s best-selling motorcycle guidebook, ‘Great American Motorcycle Tours.’ He is also a two-time National Geographic author (‘USA 101’ and ‘Ten Best of Everything: National Parks’), a member of the Society of America Travel Writers, and was selected by the Motorcycle Industry Council to chronicle the Cannon Ball Centennial Ride, a 3,450-mile cross country motorcycle expedition. He initiated the drive to renovate the Mount Dora Community Building and created the 501(c)3 non-profit Mount Dora Community Building Foundation to aid in its operation. He also formed the non-profit Mabel Norris Reese Tribute Fund, Inc. which was successful in creating a monument to the pioneering editor of the Mount Dora Topic. In 2018 he ran as the Democratic candidate for Florida State Senate, District 12.
Margot Winick joined Nemours Children’s Health System in 2019, where she manages public relations activities for Florida for the nation’s multi-state pediatric health leader. This follows 20 years in strategic communications management at Florida top research universities, the University of Florida and the University of Miami – her alma mater – where she also taught a college course in media relations for 6 years. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and a Master’s in Liberal Studies from the University of Miami. Interested in Florida history archives, she is currently enrolled as a Library Science Masters of Science student at Florida State University’s iSchool. A longtime Beatlemaniac, Winick has contributed to the popular “Beatle Brunch Radio Show,” heard on national FM radio markets, and produced in Fort Lauderdale by Joe Johnson. She also is a voice-over artist whose work has been heard in award-winning films.
Commissioner Steven Meiner serves on the Miami Beach City Commission and is a resident of Mid-Beach. Steven has dedicated most of his 23 year professional career as an attorney to public service fighting against fraud. Since 2007, when he moved to Miami Beach, Steven has served as a civil law enforcement attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Prior to the SEC, Steven practiced law in New York City handling complex financial litigation cases for prestigious international law firms Dewey Ballantine and Mayer Brown.
