Former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham has penned some serious literature since leaving public office. In 2003, he co-authored the weighty Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 with Republican House Member Porter Goss. The following year, Graham’s Intelligence Matters hit the bookstores, followed by 2009’s America: The Owner’s Manual.
Graham veered into the spy thriller genre in 2011 with Keys to the Kingdom. Now, Bob Graham is taking on the highly competitive children’s book arena with Rhoda the Alligator. On Sunday, Dec. 20, the book received a Tallahassee roll-out as Graham daughter - and former North Florida Congressperson and gubernatorial candidate Gwen - distributed signed copies and read the work out loud to young visitors to the Hearth and Soul boutique on Market Street. The book follows the adventures - and challenges - of Rhoda, a differently-colored baby ‘gator as she tries to find her place in the Florida Everglades National Park.
“That area has always been so near and dear to Dad’s heart,” shared Gwen Graham before the reading. “He dedicated so many years of his public life to protecting that precious eco-system, so it seemed only right to set the scene of the book in that special place.”
It’s also appropriate that the title character of the work should be an alligator, given the Graham family’s long devotion and connection to the University of Florida.
Rhoda the Alligator is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well as at Hearth and Soul.
