I’D LIKE TO THANK THE MANY RESIDENTS OF THE VILLAGES WHO let me tag along with them for days (and nights) at a time. I’d particularly like to thank my former neighbors for opening their lives to me, as well as their home. This book would never have come to fruition without their help and generosity. I’d also like to thank Erin Cox, formerly of The Orlando Sentinel for acting as my initial Villages tour guide and sounding board, and The Orlando Sentinel as a whole for their brilliant investigative work on Chapter 190, The Villages, and Gary Morse. Central Florida should consider itself fortunate to have journalists of this caliber. I’d like to thank the following people for kindly enduring hours of seemingly endless questions: Joe Gorman, Rich Lambrecht, Jim Roberts, Dan Connelly, Mark Fooks, and Edson Allen.
There were a number of people who were instrumental in the writing of this book. I’d like to thank my keen editor, the ever-dapper Jamison Stolz, Morgan Entrekin, Catherine Drayton, Sid Plotkin, Dr. Gerald Lucas, JHK, my wonderful parents, and of course, Erika and Lillie.
Lastly, I’d like to thank my hometown for being a real community by nurturing its elders and youngsters, demanding participation, and holding fast against the forces of mindless sprawl and other community-destroying trends. May we continue to live in generational harmony for years to come.
For more information regarding the subjects I write about, I highly recommend the following books: Fortress America by Edward J. Blakely; Prime Time by Marc Freedman; Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler; Suburban Nation by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck; Privatopia by Evan McKenzie; and I’ll Be Short by Robert B. Reich. There are some groups out there working to promote social reengagement—civicventures.org is one of them. For more information regarding Leisureville, please visit www.andrewblechman.com.