Alvin Victor Burt, Jr. (1927-2008), better known as Al Burt, a reporter, editor, and columnist for The Miami Herald, was born Sept. 11, 1927, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia and grew up at the family home in Jacksonville, Florida. In later life, he prided himself on being both a native Georgian and a native Floridian. He always described Florida as home, however, and would immortalize its people and places in his newspaper column "Al Burt's Florida" and in his feature stories in Tropic magazine.
When they weren't traveling the state in search of news stories, he and his wife Gloria resided at their lake-side home in Melrose, Florida. Burt was the author of five books. Three of them, anthologies of his writings on Florida, he considered a trilogy: Becalmed in the Mullet Latitudes, Al Burt's Florida, and Tropic of Cracker. These selections from his public talks draw on his life experience as a reporter and writer. For more information on Al Burt, go to the Finding Guide for his papers and recorded interviews, which are maintained at the George A. Smathers Library on the campus of the University of Florida, Burt's alma mater.
Design and content by James Cusick, Rachel Walton, Philip Durnin, and Marijka Willis. Artwork provided by James Burt and Gloria Burt, with additional original photography by Marijka Willis.
On Reporting and Writing
- “How to Write,” Space Coast Writers Conference, March 2, 1985
- “Detail in News Reporting,” (No Place or Date)
- “On Being a Foreign Correspondent,” University of Florida, 2001
Florida's Future: Challenges and Hopes
- “Florida’s Choices,” Al Burt Addresses the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Florida, Tallahassee, Jan. 4, 1989
- “The Changing Condition of Florida,” Indian River Symposium, Melbourne, Jan. 18, 1985
- “Cracker Florida as Home,” Earth Week, Naples, April 25, 1990
Understanding Florida
- “Florida: A Sense of Place,” Al Burt's View of his State, Florida Defenders of the Environment, Tampa, Feb. 14, 1985
- “Florida: A Sense of Place,” (Short version), Public Interest Environmental Conference, Gainesville, March 1, 1996
Call to Environmentalism
- “Environmentalism: A Matter of Self Defense,” Florida Audubon Society, Orlando, Jan. 21, 1995
- “Why We Need Real Florida,” Florida Surveying and Mapping Society, St. Augustine, April 18, 2000
- “Springs and Water Issues,” Springs Conference, Gainesville, Feb. 7, 2003
- “The Ocklawaha River,” River Ralley, Palatka, Feb. 19, 2005
Tropic of Cracker
Other Topics
- “On Libraries,” Friends of the Library, Fort Pierce, April 4, 1985
- “The Nature and Future of Florida’s Art,” Lively Arts Preview, Sept. 8, 1985
- “Tribute to Archie Carr,” Howey in the Hills, 2002
- “Eulogy Tribute to Marjorie Harris Carr,” First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, Oct. 16, 1997
- “Old Florida Heritage Highway,” Dedication, Paynes Prairie, Oct. 7, 2001
- “A Place Called Melrose,” Alachua and Marion County Medical Societies, March 16, 2001
- “The History of Melrose,” 2001
- “Bird Watching,” Florida Audubon Society, Homosassa Springs, Nov. 8, 1986