Friday, December 3, noon, online
The legend persists that Ponce de León discovered Florida on his ill-fated quest to find the fountain of youth – a mysterious spring that would grant eternal life to anyone who drank from it. Rick Kilby, author of the award-winning “Finding the Fountain of Youth: Ponce de León and Florida’s Magical Waters,” will examine the origins of the myth of the fountain of youth, how it came to be attached to the Spanish explorer, and why it still affects Florida’s culture, even today. This online event is free.
About the Speaker
Orlando-based writer and graphic designer Rick Kilby is the author of Florida’s Healing Waters: Gilded Age Mineral Springs, Seaside Resorts, and Health Spas (University Press of Florida, 2020), which received the silver medal for Florida nonfiction from the Florida Book Awards and the Florida Historical Society’s Stetson Kennedy Award. His first book, Finding the Fountain of Youth: Ponce de León and Florida’s Magical Waters (University Press of Florida, 2013), won a Florida Book Award in the Visual Arts category. He has contributed articles to Florida Humanities FORUM magazine and the Society for Commercial Archeology’s Journal and is the designer and managing editor of the History Center’s award-winning historical journal Reflections from Central Florida.
