Florida Spectacular
Take a weekly trip across Florida with authors Cathy Salustri and Rick Kilby and discover a side of Florida you never knew existed. From the scallops in Panhandle bays to the Hemingway cats in Key West, every week's a Florida adventure.
Twice each month, Florida Keys historian Brad Bertelli joins Cathy for premium episodes available to subscribers focused exclusively on the Keys.
Florida Spectacular
Episode 47: Tampa Skyway bridge disaster
Send us your Florida questions!
This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Bill DeYoung, a St. Petersburg native, veteran journalist, and author of "Skyway: The True Story of Tampa Bay's Signature Bridge and the Man Who Brought it Down." Bill and Cathy talk about the Skyway Bridge disaster of 1980, the (untrue and harmful) rumors about Captain Lerro's role in the disaster and, most notably, his play, "Mayday: Captain Lerro and the Skyway Bridge", which opens in St. Petersburg Feb. 10
More about Bill:
In addition to "Skyway: The True Story of Tampa Bay’s Signature Bridge and the Man Who Brought it Down" Bill's also written books about Florida music, including "Phil Gernhard Record Man""I Need to Know: The Lost Music Interviews", "Vintage St. Pete: The Golden Age of Tourism and More" and "Vintage St. Pete Volume II: Legends, Locations, Lifestyles". He is senior writer and editor at the St. Pete Catalyst.
About the play:
"Mayday: Captain Lerro and the Skyway Bridge" is a one-person play centered around John Lerro, the harbor pilot at the helm of the freighter that knocked down the Sunshine Skyway Bridge during a freak storm in 1980. Lerro relates the story of his life, up to and including the "day he checked into hell," and describes – in harrowing detail – the unhappy years that followed. Much of the dialogue was taken from Lerro's own words, in court testimony and media interviews.
Links we mentioned:
"Skyway: The True Story of Tampa Bay's Signature Bridge and the Man Who Brought it Down"
Off Central (For tickets to "Mayday"
Untethered & Wanderwise: Female Travel Over 45A travel podcast for women over 45 who want to explore this big beautiful world.
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Free, weekly episodes of "The Florida Spectacular" are co-hosted by Rick Kilby.
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Premium, biweekly episodes of "The Florida Keys" Spectacular are co-hosted by Brad Bertelli. Find Brad's column in The Keys Weekly newspaper, ch...
