As a veteran traveler and aficionado of this fine state, I’m often approached by people with burning questions. The most frequent inquiry: "What’s Captain Florida’s absolute favorite place to visit?" The next most frequent: "Hey, man, what is your problem?" But that’s another story, another time. So what is my favorite place? That’s easy. It’s [...]

Most brilliant ideas are elegantly simple and obvious. Such was Alex Steinweiss’ notion back in 1939 to turn plain brown wrappers covering records into works of art. Only 23 then, Steinweiss was the art director of the fledgling Columbia Records. Back then, all record albums languished in the backs of stores, since there was no [...]

Sarasota’s cultural scene blooms year-round, with the biggest profusion of plays, art shows, concerts and dance performances beginning this month and continuing through April or so. But if you wait until the last minute to pick your bouquet of arts offerings, you might be disappointed. "Be prepared" is the motto. That way you don’t risk [...]

Long before Madge the manicurist plunged women’s hands into Palmolive dishwashing liquid in the ’60s, the vain among us were keenly aware of the effect hands have on our appearance. We’ve found that we can tighten our faces, lift our rear ends and augment our breasts, but when we walk out in public-or into a [...]

To readers of children’s books, the illustrations that accompany the story should help provide an entry into a magical world. In the case of illustrator Mary Grandpré, that’s more literally true than with most: Her most famous drawings adorn the pages of the American editions of J.K. Rowling’s phenomenally successful Harry Potter books, which are [...]

In the case of the pipevine swallowtail, you are what you eat. In the caterpillar stage, the insect feeds on pipevine, which contains chemicals that make the adult butterflies taste awful to insect-eating birds. Swallowtails are found throughout the Southwest. Adults dine on the nectars of a wide variety of common flowers, including azaleas, lantanas, [...]

There’ve been some changes and additions to the busy Sarasota cultural season since our November season preview story was compiled. Here’s a glimpse of what’s new: An Evening with Judy Collins and special guests, 8 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Van Wezel. Other changes at the Van Wezel: singer-actor Mandy Patinkin will perform Jan. 20 [...]

Chef Keith Daum is the master of two kitchens, one at chi-chi Cafe L’Europe on St. Armands Circle and the other at its shy sister, Cafe On The Bay on Longboat Key. Titus Letschert has owned Cafe L’Europe for 30 years and took over Cafe On The Bay in 1994 when it was a private [...]