Program 530: More Florida; Rediscovering Route 66; Sarah Vowell Assassination Vacation

Tampa Bay Times columnist Craig Pittman explains how Florida's massive tourism industry impacts the state's residents. Plus, the author of a guide to Route 66 tells us about efforts to revitalize the historic 24-hundred mile highway as a national heritage trail. Also, author Sarah Vowell tells us what she learned when she visited sites associated with assassinated American presidents.

• Tampa Bay Times columnist Craig Pittman, author of "Oh, Florida!" (St. Martin's Press)
• Jim Hinckley, author of "America's Longest Small Town" (Voyageur Press) and member of the Route 66 Economic Development Committee
• Sarah Vowell, author of "Assassination Vacation" (Simon and Schuster, 2005) and "Lafayette in the Somewhat United States" (Riverhead Books, 2016)

• Craig's book "Oh, Florida!" won a gold medal for non-fiction in the 2016 Florida Book Awards.
• Jim Hinckley pays homage to Route 66 in his book, "America's Longest Small Town," which includes photographs from his wife Judy Hinckley of roadside sites and residents.  He blogs about the highway, and preservation efforts by the Route 66 Economic Development Committee, on his JimHinckleysAmerica.com website.
• The Road Ahead Partnership seeks to revive and preserve US Route 66 as a National Historic Trail.
• The 2018 European Route 66 Festival is being held August 10-12 in Zlin, Czech Republic, while Route 66 News lists many annual events and festivals held along the Route.
• Sarah Vowell has written six best-selling nonfiction books on American history and culture, including "Assassination Vacation," which she wrote after touring the sites associated with the deaths of three American presidents, and while she was working as voice talent on the first movie of "The Incredibles." Her latest title is "Lafayette in the Somewhat United States."
• Sarah Vowell also appeared on Travel with Rick Steves program #480 in April 2017 to talk about her book on General Lafayette, and on program #489 in July 2017 to discuss what she learned about the American annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, which she writes about in her book "Unfamiliar Fishes."