Arix Zalace is a long-time Panhandle resident and co-founder, director and board member at The Paper Bear nonprofit, which has produced a feature film of the same name. The movie is a love letter to the biodiversity of the Florida Panhandle ,as told through the story of a black bear. Zalace also advocates on behalf of black bears in Florida, attempting to educate the public and politicians. Florida wildlife officials continue to have a crazed obsession with a bear hunt in state, and it looks like this December will be the start.
Florida black bear.Image: Wikipedia. Featured image (above, right) from “The Paper Bear.”
Craig Pittman is the award-winning author of Oh, Florida!: How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country, The Scent of Scandal, Cat Tale, Manatee Insanity and The State You’re In, and co-author of Paving Paradise. Born in Pensacola, he graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him “the most destructive force on campus.” Since then he has covered a variety of newspaper beats and quite a few natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and the Florida Legislature.
