Anthony Catanese author of Sunshine Towns is our resident spotlight of St. Cloud FL. Jeanine Corcoran broker for The Corcoran Connection interviews Anthony who goes by Tony in this month’s episode. Jeanine is flying solo on this episode as Kristin has been sick and lost her voice. Welcome to the 25th episode of Discover St. Cloud Florida.
Jeanine shared prior to her interview with Tony Catanese that he had quite the sense of humor that she didn’t expect. She also shared that Tony started writing books in 1972. He has written a total of 14 books. The new book he is finishing will be published this fall and will focus on the community of Harmony in St. Cloud Florida.
Jeanine started the interview by asking Tony how long he has been writing? Tony answered that his first book came out in 1972 when he was an assistant professor at Georgia Tech University. He said he has written 14 books and a new one is on the way which should be out this fall of 2022.
Jeanine then asked Tony how he got started in writing? Tony replied that he studied engineering and then he became interested in architecture. He expanded his thinking and got into city planning with how cities are developed and built. He wanted to add to the literature as he was teaching at the time and wanted textbooks for his students and add to the general body of knowledge.
He was then asked by Jeanine where he did city planning? Tony answered that he started out in practice and when he got out of school, he received his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then worked in Hawaii.
Tony joked that he had a tough job in Hawaii having to evaluate all the beaches in Hawaii with all the tourists and resort development. He joked he had a two-year contract, and it took him 5 years. Tony said it is so hard to finish on time. Jeanine commented that she loves his sense of humor.
Tony continued that while Jimmy Carter was President, he worked for the Alaskan Native Claim Settlement Act where several million acres of land in Alaska were distributed to the native populations. Tony was one of his representatives that helped decide which lands would be eligible for distribution. Tony stated that most of his work was as a consultant in Georgia and Florida.
Jeanine asked Tony for those that don’t know him to summarize his career and life for them if he could. Tony started by saying he had one of those lives of unexpected ambitions. He started off as a kid in New Brunswick, New Jersey playing in a rock’n’roll band. Tony said he wanted to be a rock star, but his father has other ideas, so he went to college to study engineering.
Tony continued that he thought he wanted to be an engineer, as civil engineering is great, he was designing bridges, but he thought he needed a little more than that. Then Tony moved on to architecture where he was designing single-family homes. He said he became interested in the larger picture, especially with the way European towns were developing.
Tony said that his family then moved to Ocala, Florida so all the big city stuff went away. He stated his dad was in construction and thought there would be a lot of development in Ocala, and he was right. That is when he became a Floridian.
Jeanine asked him when that was? Tony replied that it was right after he got out of high school so in the mid-1960s. He continued that he spent most of his life in Florida and Georgia. He said he went back to New York for a couple of years and attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and was the provost there.
Tony then returned to Florida and was the Dean at the University of Florida and then the Dean at the University of Miami. He then went on to be President of Florida Atlantic University and then for the last 14 years, Tony has been the President of the Florida Institute of Technology.
We hope you enjoyed Anthony Catanese author of Sunshine Towns as our resident spotlight of St. Cloud FL. We’ll continue to be your resource for keeping you in the loop on different events, businesses and real estate happenings in Saint Cloud, Florida!
