Southeast Florida Pioneers

The history of the Palm Beach area, the Treasure Coast, and Lake Okeechobee is one of turbulence, growth, and especially change. Meet the visionaries and outlaws, physicians and poets who shaped this region of southeast Florida from the 1690s through the 1990s. Author William McGoun’s stories are sometimes hair-raising, sometimes amusing, and always engaging.

Well researched and dotted with photos from The Palm Beach Post archives, this collection of mini-biographies reads like a who’s who of Florida history.

William McGoun was a senior editorial writer for The Palm Beach Post and has been a journalist since 1957, having held a variety of positions with newspapers in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Miami Beach. His areas of interest include the environment, growth management, transportation, and higher education. Mr. McGoun holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Florida Atlantic University and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida, all in anthropology. He is the author of two history books, A Biographic History of Broward County and Hallandale, and his articles have appeared in Broward Legacy, Florida Journal of Anthropology, Journal of Cherokee Studies, and The Reflector.