Central Florida Legends in the Making: Learn Local Lecture

Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist with WESH-TV in Orlando, Bob Kealing, right, will speak at Stetson University on Thursday, March 19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the duPont-Ball Library, room 25 (lower-level, courtyard entrance). This event, sponsored by Stetson’s College of Arts and Sciences and the American Studies Program, is free and open to the public. It is a cultural credit event for Stetson students.

For more than 20 years Kealing has covered many high profile news stories in Central Florida, including the Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman trials. He has worked as an international correspondent for NBC covering NASA and hurricanes.

In his spare time, Kealing has pursued what he calls “Suburban Archeology,” the pursuit of Central Florida’s pre-Disney history, often in the suburbs around us. As a result, he found what has become Orlando’s first nationally recognized literary landmark, the Jack Kerouac House, former home of the American novelist, poet and pioneer of the ‘Beat Generation.’ (Kerouac: 1922-1969.) The non-profit he co-founded, the Jack Kerouac Project, owns the historic house and runs it as a writers retreat.

In addition, while doing research for one of the three books he has written, he came across a former Polk County teen club building where a stellar roster of Central Florida rock-and-rollers honed their talents, and Kealing has been helping with its restoration.

In July 2014, Sony Pictures bought the rights to his book, Tupperware, Unsealed to develop as a major motion picture starring Sandra Bullock as the pioneering American saleswoman Brownie Wise (1913-1992), who is largely responsible for Tupperware’s success. The movie is written and directed by Tate Taylor.

Kealing is also hard at work on a fourth book, tracing young Elvis Presley’s barnstorming days in Florida. (Young Elvis in Florida is pictured, photo credit: Linda Moscato.)

The public is invited to this Learn Local Lecture at Stetson University at no charge, Thursday, March 19. For more information, contact Rebecca Watts, Ph.D., associate professor of Communication and Media Studies at Stetson University, at [email protected], or call 386-822-7563.