The Edisons of Fort Myers: Discoveries of the Heart - Hardcover

Smoot, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1561643122 ISBN 13: 9781561643127

Publisher: Pineapple Press, 2004

Synopsis

In 1885, Thomas Edison, age thirty-nine and already a world-famous inventor, met the two great loves of his life: Mina Miller and Fort Myers, Florida. Mina soon became his second wife, and Fort Myers - a remote, almost inaccessible, village on Florida's southwest coast - became their winter home.

Other tomes tell the global account of Thomas Edison, the American icon named by Life magazine as the Man of the Millennium. This book offers a look at his life in his tropical retreat, his jungle, where for forty-six years he and his bride sought refuge from the cold winters and the demanding lifestyle of his New Jersey home, laboratory, and business complex.

While in Fort Myers he watched over his extensive botanical gardens, fished from both his boat and his long dock, interacted with the locals, and labored for many hours in his laboratory. Henry Ford and his family lived next door and many dignitaries came to visit, including President-elect Hoover and Harvey Firestone.

The Edisons became an essential part of the Fort Myers story. They made lifelong friendships with townsfolk and joined in local activities until the love affair of the Edisons was cut short by the death of Thomas in 1931. Mina continued to live out her love for Fort Myers and its people until her death in 1947. She gave their winter estate, Seminole Lodge, to the grateful citizens of Fort Myers.

About this title

About the Author:

Tom Smoot, a native and lifelong resident of Fort Myers, has observed firsthand the impact of the Edisons' long winter residency in the City of Palms. A graduate of the University of Florida, he has practiced law in Fort Myers for the past forty-five years. He was the chairman of the Edison Winter Home Board and one of the founders of the Edison-Ford Winter Estates Foundation. For eighteen years, he has also been the Florida trustee of the Charles Edison Fund, a private foundation with offices in New Jersey. The fund has a significant interest in the Edisons' winter home in Fort Myers as well as their principal residence in West Orange, New Jersey.

Review:

". . . a lyrical and important work of modern history that illuminates a lesser-known dimension of our country’s greatest inventor." -- Neil Baldwin, author of Edison: Inventing the Century

"Smoot provides the local historian’s understanding of place by showing us the inventor through the eyes of the community." -- Paul Israel, Director and Editor, Thomas A. Edison Papers, Rutgers University

"The combination of historical photographs and archival resources make this book unique." -- Chris Tenne Pendleton, President & CEO, Edison & Ford Winter Estates

About this edition

• Publisher: Pineapple Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1561643122
• ISBN 13: 9781561643127
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 372