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News To learn more about Kim Cool's latest ghost hunting experiences, visit her blog: Ghosts are Gathering Along The Gulf Coast. Kim Cool steps into the ring—the circus ringLife is a Circus Performance & BooksigningOn Saturday evening, Feb. 11, circus authors will perform a mass signing inside the entrance area of the Big Top on Tuttle. Wielding pens and augmenting the performance of Circus Sarasotašs spectacular production of Life Is A Circus, the first-ever Circus Sarasota book-signing night will feature present and former circus stars-turned authors, and others who have written books about the circus and circus arts. Tino Wallenda, of The Flying Wallendas, starring in this yearšs Circus Sarasota production, will be on hand to autograph his book, Walking the Straight and Narrow. Other authors participating in the event include well-known Ringling circus clown Cowboy Mike Keever, who has become an author-illustrator; Kim Cool, of the Venice Gondolier Sun, who penned Circus Days in Sarasota and Venice, and Dorothy Grotefent, the author of Circus Potpourri. Also present for this unique book signing event will be Dale Skinner, publisher of Dorothy Herbert, the memoirs of the circus performer billed as the Riding Sensation of the Circus World. The book signings will take place inside the reception tent that opens at 6 p.m., with show time at 7 p.m. During intermission and following the performance there will also be opportunity to meet and talk with the authors and have books autographed. Cool will be guest ringmaster for the performance that evening, blowing the special whistle to start the show and then turning over the regular ringmaster duties to local radio celebrity Cliff Roles, host of Talk of the Suncoast on 1220 AM daily at 2 and 6 p.m. The Big Top on Tuttle is about two blocks south of Fruitville. Circus Sarasota will continue to perform Life Is A Circus eight times a week through Feb. 26. Tickets may be obtained at the on-site box office, or by calling (941) 355-9805. Review of Circus Days in Sarasota & Venice Kim Cool's latest book, "Circus Days in Sarasota & Venice," is a bit more down to earth than her first two offerings, "Ghost Stories of Venice" and "Ghost of Sarasota." The Venice Gondolier newspaper's features editor has written a book everyone who calls Venice or Sarasota their home or their vacation retreat should read. If one is going to live here or vacation in the area he or she should know the local history. And "The Greatest Show on Earth," Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, helped make Sarasota and Venice what they are today. If John and Mable Ringing hadn't arrived on the shores of Sarasota Bay 75 years ago, and shortly thereafter brought the most famous circus in the world here, these two towns would probably much the same as many other communities of similar size around the state--nothing to brag about. Without the Ringlings and their circus there would not have been any Ringling Art Museum, or Ca d' Zan, Clown College or possibly no Ringling Art School or New College. And Sarasota County would probably have not become one of the cultural mecca's of Florida, or so the locals like to advertise. Kim's "Circus Days" book is much more than a history of the Ringlings' local accomplishments and what they've meant to this area. Her book talks about circus royalty as neighbors, which they well could be if you live in Venice or Sarasota. Even today, years after the circus left both communities, circus performers and the many behind the scenes people needed to make their acts come to life still call one of these two communities their permanent home. People like Gunther Gabel-Williams, the world-famous big cat trainer who fascinated generations of circus-goers, might be found waiting in line at a Venice restaurant, with his family like everyone else. You could, until a few years ago, drive down a certain residential street in Venice and see Tito Gaona, the show-stopping aerialists' trapeze in the side yard of his home. If you were very lucky you might even watch Tito and his troop practicing their routine. Kim's new book make large and small circus celebrities sound like real people. Just like the rest of us, they go about their every day lives doing what most of us do. But these folks also have a second life under the lights performing incredible feats of skill, agility and daring that make us mere mortals scream with joy, delight and disbelief. There's another side of the circus story she doesn't dwell on. And that's what Sarasota County, and particularly Venice, Florida, lost when "The Greatest Show on Earth" left town in 1992. No longer did the circus return by train to Venice and disgorge itself at the Seaboard Airline Railroad Depot, across the canal from the Gondolier's main office located in downtown Venice. No longer did the elephants tromp across the bridge one behind the other holding on to the tail of the pachyderm in front with their trunk. No longer did the natives and the tourists line the streets of Venice to watch the homecoming. Despite this loss, Kim sill believes Ken Field, principal owner of today's circus, is "The Greatest Showman on Earth." She maintains he's the reincarnation of P.T. Barnum, the fellow that started the whole thing more than a century ago. Maybe she's right. Without Irving and Ken Field, father and son, there is little doubt "The Greatest Show on Earth" would not be what it is today. For that accomplishment we are indebted to them. We are also indebted to Kim Cool for writing "Circus Days in Sarasota & Venice." She made an American institution, that has enthralled children of all ages for generations, come to life. It's an interesting read if you want to know more about the the circus stars and the people behind the scenes that make "The Greatest Show on Earth" live. It's our local history.
A haunting we will go By ROD HARMON With Halloween comes a bevy of haunted houses promising to provide frightening experiences to thrill seekers. But there are some places in Manatee and Sarasota counties that don't need actors in costumes and glow-in-the-dark sets to be scary. They're said to be haunted year-round. Florida is abundant with locales purported to possess supernatural qualities, and Tampa Bay is no exception. When Kim Cool of Venice began conducting research for a series of ghost-story compilations on the Sunshine State, she unearthed dozens of things that go bump in the night. "Spiritualism itself seems to be catching on right now," said Cool, who has published "Ghost Stories of Venice" and "Ghost Stories of Sarasota" with Historic Venice Press and is working on similar books on the St. Petersburg-Tampa area. "It's nice to think that you don't just live and die, that maybe there's a chance at a second life." Administrators with the venues in this article say the ghost stories are just that - stories. Whether they're evidence of supernatural activity or simply entertaining yarns is up to the reader to judge. Gamble Plantation Site of the only surviving antebellum plantation mansion in Florida, it seems only natural that the Gamble Plantation would harbor spirits. Its most famous guest, Judah P. Benjamin, is said to inhabit the room where he once stayed in the waning days of the Civil War. Benjamin was a prominent lawyer and sugar farmer in Louisiana who was twice elected to the U.S. Senate. He resigned his seat when Louisiana seceded from the Union and held the offices of attorney general, secretary of war and secretary of state in the Confederacy. A close friend of Jefferson Davis, he was known in the north as "the brains of the Confederacy." When the South collapsed in 1865, Benjamin took refuge at the Gamble Mansion and plotted his escape to England. He practiced law in Great Britain until retiring in 1883, and died in Paris the following year. June Hartlieb, president of the Gamble Plantation Preservation Alliance, said she was leading a tour through the mansion one day when a woman gasped upon entering Benjamin's bedroom. "This woman took one step inside the room and took a sharp intake. I thought she had been stung by a wasp or something," Hartlieb said. "She said, 'I am a clairvoyant, and I want you to know that Judah P. Benjamin walks these rooms. And he's quite a gentleman.' " Other people have heard and seen strange things in the mansion, but whether it's the work of Benjamin's ghost is cause for debate. Wayne Godwin, a park ranger at the Gamble Plantation, has witnessed what could be construed as supernatural phenomena. "We were doing a tour, and, all of a sudden, a rocking chair started moving on its own," Godwin said. "A couple of days later, a wardrobe drawer opened by itself in the middle bedroom." Godwin also told of instances where chairs seemingly moved by themselves and of lights mysteriously turning on. Still, he doesn't think any of it was caused by spirits. "It's never really appealed to me that there was something there," he said. Coquina Beach On the southern tip of Anna Maria Island just before the Longboat Key bridge, there are reportedly spirits wandering the beach at night, possibly guests of a hotel razed long ago, according to the Web site www.theshadowlands.net. One of them, a male figure in black, walks from what is now a picnic area to the shoreline before vanishing. The figure is even visible during the day, according to the Web site. A few miles north on Gulf Drive in Bradenton Beach, there once stood a beach house notorious for its haunted activity. Built by Henry Curry in 1923, the house was said to have been inhabited by several spirits, including a woman who drowned in a shipwreck, a seafaring ghost who whistled and smoked a pipe, and a child who had a pet Dalmation. If the stories are true, the spirits must have left when the house was demolished and replaced by a condominium. There have been no reports of ghosts there since, said Carolyn Norwood, co-founder of the Anna Maria Historical Society. Sunshine Skyway Bridge On May 9, 1980, a freighter rammed the highest span of the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge during a blinding spring squall, ripping out a 1,297-foot span. Thirty-five people plunged to their deaths. Within a few weeks, the story of a hitchhiking ghost began to surface. It's always a woman. Sometimes, she has long, blond hair; other times, she's wearing a white shawl. She walks barefoot along the highway, thumb in the air, until someone picks her up. As the vehicle begins to ascend the bridge, she asks the driver if he has accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. Then she disappears. The Bradenton Herald tried to track down the source of this tale in June 1980, but couldn't verify its origin and passed it off as a modern variation of an urban legend. Kim Cool tends to agree with that conclusion. "The hitchhiking ghost is a classic ghost story," said Cool, who is features editor at the Venice Gondolier Sun. "There are variations of that all over the place." Still, the story persists more than two decades later. During the 20th anniversary of the bridge's collapse, a toll collection supervisor recalled seeing the woman during the early morning hours in 1987. Even if the hitchhiking story is just a hoax, Cool wouldn't be surprised if there were actual spirits haunting the Skyway. "It would make sense that with such a horrible disaster, there would be some ghosts," she said. Sarasota Opera House There's a popular saying about ghost hunters: Where there's a theater, there are spirits. That certainly seems to be the case in Sarasota, where Cool found six theaters reportedly buzzing with supernatural activity. The Sarasota Opera House, located in the hub of the downtown district, is one of the oldest. Built in 1926, it's played host to silent films, the Ziegfeld Follies, Elvis Presley and world-renowned opera stars. According to "Ghost Stories of Sarasota," at least one of them may have decided to stick around after death. An employee who asked not to be identified told Cool there seemed to be an unidentified spirit searching for a friend at the theater and that footsteps could be heard in the Peterson Great Room. The spirit may roam back and forth between the opera house and the nearby Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, which is suspected to have spirits of its own. "I was at the Golden Apple just the other day, and met a couple of people who I had not talked to for the book," Cool said. "One guy said he spent the night there painting sets and was trying to catch a nap in the men's dressing room but couldn't sleep because there were too many strange things going on. He tried the women's dressing room, and that didn't work, either, so he stayed up all night." John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art The Ringling museum is one of Sarasota's most beloved treasures. It houses the extensive art collection of circus magnate John Ringling, one of the famed Ringling Brothers and a key player in Sarasota's development during the early 20th century. Just north of the museum sits Ca d'Zan, the winter home that Ringling built for his wife, Mable, in the 1920s. Almost as exquisite as the art that graces the museum, the mansion was an epicenter for Florida society until John Ringling's death in 1936. Ron McCarty has been registrar of Ca d'Zan for more than 20 years, and played an essential part in a recent six-year restoration that returned the mansion to its original glory. Although he's never seen any ghosts, he's heard dozens of stories over the years about spirits inhabiting the Ringling home. "There have been guards who said they saw Mable in her bathtub," McCarty said. "A workman saw someone in the attic, and it scared him so much, he won't come back to this property." Rilla Fleming, who has worked in Ca d'Zan's outdoor café since April 2002, said she's seen both John and Mable in the mansion. Fleming is an artist with a gallery in Sarasota's Towles Court who says she can sense spirits. She described John Ringling as being a bit aloof, always standing in the background smoking a cigar while tours wind their way through the mansion. Mable is the opposite, she says, and loves to show off her home to guests. "John would follow us around the house," Fleming said. "Mable would lead us, like, 'Here we are!' She was very gracious, very accommodating." Fleming also said she's seen the ghost of a dog scampering back and forth near the front door. It's a large animal, which would fit the description of John Ringling's dog, Tell. In February 2003, Cool took a VIP tour of Ca d'Zan after hours with a local television station and two mediums. The mediums said they sensed not only the spirits of John and Mable, but of numerous spirits, waiting to "pass over" in the tap room, where John Ringling had entertained many friends. The mediums told McCarty that Mable was pleased with the restoration, and they could point out items that weren't originally in the house. "The mansion is climate-controlled with a state-of-the-art system," Cool said. "When we walked into the tap room, it was icy cold. We all felt it. The mediums said there were hundreds of spirits there." The official word from the Ringling is that there aren't any ghosts. Still, McCarty said several mediums have gone into the mansion at different times and had the same experience in the same spots. But instead of being the typical haunted house, where ghosts try to drive people away, the Ringlings welcome visitors, Fleming said. It's a happy place that evokes feelings of warmth and comfort. Just as Mable would have wanted. "There's a happiness that radiates from the house," Fleming said. "You can't come here and not feel a sense of peace." Rod Harmon, features writer, can be reached at 745-7051 or rharmon@bradentonherald.com Area author uncovers Sarasota spirits in 'Ghost Stories' By DAN MEARNS Ready to curl up with a juicy ghost story? There's no time like the present, with Halloween less than two weeks away. There are thousands of ghost stories out there from which to choose, ranging from the fanciful to the far-fetched to the downright terrifying. But among the most intriguing are those drawn from real life, involving real people and places. Venice Gondolier Sun features editor Kim Cool has become an expert in uncovering and exploring such stories. Her first book on the subject, "Ghost Stories of Venice," dealt with supernatural goings-on from Spanish Point to Englewood. In her most recent effort,"Ghost Stories of Sarasota: The Heart of the Cultural Coast," traces metaphysical happenings at many Sarasota landmarks, including the Ringling Museum, Players Theatre, Sarasota Opera House, Pelican Man Bird Sanctuary, Lido Key and Anna Maria Island. The book is divided into eight chapters based on where the spirits do their haunting. Cool visits Sarasota's historic theaters, its neighborhoods, educational institutions and, of course, graveyards. Therein roam the ghosts of actors and actresses, circus performers, animals, American Indians and others. "In Sarasota, it seemed as though every single theater was haunted by at least one spirit," Cool writes in telling the tale of Theater Works "Warm and Fuzzy," the tragic Lauren Melville of Players Theatre, the dog who haunts the Golden Apple Dinner Theater, and others.
The ghosts of Sarasota aren't intent on mayhem or murder, Cool notes. The most damage they do is likely to be a scratch, a cold touch, a chill on the skin, a strange crack in a floor, some pots and pans flying across a kitchen or a falling object "accidentally" striking someone. These Casperesque spirits enjoy playing the piano or enjoying a cigarette while rocking in a rocking chair. Many of them are "searching for a friend" who will help them cross over into the light. Cool also provides a healthy dose of Sarasota history with her ghostly tales, tracing the evolution of Sarasota through its cultural heritage. There are also numerous photos in the book, some of them containing mysterious orbs, shadows and lights that prove ghosts can be photographed. Like any good writer, Cool saves the best for last, taking readers on an exclusive look inside the world of the late John and Mable Ringling, who established a winter home in Sarasota in the 1920s and helped make the city an international center of art and society. Cool makes the Ringling estate seem like Dana Barrett's townhouse in "Ghostbusters"—spook central. The ghosts of John and Mable are on hand, of course, as are those of famed showman Flo Zeigfeld, legendary humorist Will Rogers and countless other folks both famous and otherwise. In the final chapters, Cool visits Ca d'Zan, the Ringlings' restored mansion on Sarasota Bay, accompanied by a pair of mediums and two television news people. They were allowed access to the most private areas of the massive house, areas off limits to tourists. You'll have the read the book to find out what Cool discovered. One sentence might give you an idea: "It was almost as though we were each having the beginnings of a heart attack." An award-winning journalist, Cool approaches her stories as a reporter, but also a participant—and an unapologetic believer. There's no attempt to explain away the mysterious happenings with science or logic. To Cool and the real-life characters in her book, the spirits exist. So, sit back, turn up your reading lamp—and turn out the rest of the lights in the house—and prepare to be educated, enlightened, amused and, yes, scared. Priced at $12.95, "Ghost Stories of Sarasota" is 178 pages, with photos. It is available at Barnes & Noble, Sarasota News & Books, Circle Books, The Book Shop in Venice, Venice Stationers, Serenity Gardens, Ringling Museum and on amazon.com. You can e-mail Dan Mearns at dmearns@sun-herald.com For immediate release After 10 years as a writer of top-selling business and needlework books which earned her listings in Who’s Who of Business and Finance, Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who of the South and similar publications, Kim Cool has penned a work that combines the history and legends of her adopted hometown of Venice, Florida. In “Ghost Stories of Venice” Kim Cool relates tales told to her by a variety of people who live as far north as Historic Spanish Point and as far south as Manasota Key and Englewood, an area generally considered the greater Venice area. The award-winning journalist and current features editor of the Venice Gondolier Sun, sets the stage for the stories with plenty of facts, the true history of the planned community of Venice and its neighboring areas. In pursuing the ghostly tales, Kim Cool has “related only true and verifiable tales.” Some stories are literally about things that go bump in the night. Others relate to the actual sightings of specters, shadowy forms and identifiable people. Heavily illustrated with black and white photos of the locations described in its pages, “Ghost Stories of Venice” also includes one picture that is considered to be a real angel by Pat Charnly, minister of Venice’s Church of the Angels. Since the first Calusa Indians inhabited the coastal areas of Southwest Florida more than 1,300 years ago, there have been stories of spirits and unexplained occurrences. Sightings have been reported at Historic Spanish Point and at Manasota Key and Englewood, places where ancient shell middens remain to this day. More modern spirits have been reported riding motorcycles, adjusting car seats or turning on faucets in the middle of the night. It is even possible that the ghosts of explorers Ponce de Leon and Hernando De Soto have been seen in the area. “Ghost Stories of Venice,” is the first publication of such legends and tales relating to the Venice area and thought to be the first such book relating to the West coast of Florida. In the works is “Ghost Stories of Sarasota,” planned for publication by Historic Venice Press in 2003. In the introduction to “Ghost Stories of Venice,” the author writes “Some people are truly afraid to even contemplate the reality of ghosts and want no part of such stories. Others think it is all make-believe. Perhaps reality is somewhere in between,” Whether fact or fiction, Ghost Stories of Venice” provides a “different look at the Shark Tooth Capital of the World...” Ghost Stories of Venice For more information, contact ghostwriter@.historicvenicepress.com |
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