New managing editor arrives at Observer

East Coast vs. West Coast.

No, it’s not a hip-hop rivalry, nor is it a comparison of offensive styles in the NFL.

It’s my life, and Interstate 4 runs right through it.

I’m new, you see, to Sarasota County. But while you can count my days traversing Tamiami Trail without flipping a calendar page, Florida’s West Coast isn’t a total unknown.

I’m nearly a Florida native, moving to Pasco County at age 13 at a time when U.S. 19 was four sparsely traveled lanes, and traffic lights were few and far between.

High school and college also came and went in the Tampa Bay area, with occasional spring-training trips, reporting assignments and vacations bringing me south of the Sunshine Skyway.

All told, I’ve logged nearly 70% of my 54 years in Florida. Port Richey, Hudson, Tampa, Cocoa, Merritt Island, Melbourne.

Most recently, I spent 24 years working on Florida’s Space Coast, where surfers talk as if waist-high waves are awesome, and rockets fly so frequently that sometimes we act like we aren’t watching (we always do, though).

So now, it’s back west for another chapter as managing editor of the Sarasota Observer and Longboat Observer, practicing the kind of journalism I like best – journalism that puts your neighborhood and its issues center stage. Often, it will be serious stuff. Other times, hopefully, we can make you smile.

But I bet we never publish an issue without including someone or something you’re interested in.

While doing that, I’m eager to learn more about our new home (first "wow" moment: a two-story Publix). Along the way, I’m looking forward to meeting you, listening to your concerns and getting a sense of what’s important in these parts.

I keep hearing from pretty much everyone I meet that the West Coast is the Best Coast.

From what I’ve seen so far, that’s more than just a clever turn of a phrase.