George S. LeMieux is a native Floridian who has enjoyed a career in both the public and private sectors. George served as Florida’s thirty-fourth United States senator in the 111th Congress. He also served as Florida’s deputy attorney general, and as Governor Charlie Crist’s chief of staff.
George is a practicing attorney and currently serves as the chairman of the board of Gunster, a statewide Florida-based law firm. He is the founder of the LeMieux Center for Public Policy at Palm Beach Atlantic University. George is also the author, along with Laura E. Mize, of the award-winning book Florida Made: The 25 Most Important Figures Who Shaped The State. He lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is the proud father of four children.
Meet George.
Laura E. Mize is an award-winning book author, an independent journalist, and a former reporter for The Palm Beach Post. Her work has been picked up by the Associated Press, published in newspapers across the country, and aired on National Public Radio.
Her first book, Florida Made: The 25 Most Important Figures Who Shaped The State (written with George S. LeMieux), won the 2019 National Indie Excellence Award in the history genre.
Laura has written extensively on Florida business, history, food, dining, and agriculture. Some of that work has appeared in The Local Palate, the premier magazine on Southern culinary culture. In addition, she has an extensive portfolio of health sciences writing for institutions such as Mayo Clinic and the University of Florida, and for the award-winning, internationally syndicated radio show Health in a Heartbeat. She lives in Naples, Florida, with her husband and two children.
You can learn more about Laura’s work at www.lauramizewriting.com.
Meet Laura.
For an even more in-depth history of Florida, check out George and Laura’s first book…
Florida Made
Florida is in many ways both the oldest and newest of the megastates.
Once an insect-ridden swampland, it is now a top destination for tourism, business, agriculture and innovation. The ideas and actions of a colorful cast of characters — from beloved cultural icons to political heroes and even a socialist dictator transformed the peninsula. A Barbados native rescued Florida's orange industry after the catastrophic 1835 freeze. Known as the "Grande Dame of the Everglades," Marjory Stoneman Douglas worked tirelessly to save the state’s vast, incomparable wetlands from annihilation in the early twentieth century. In the mid-1800s, a Florida doctor developed a precursor to modern air conditioning. Join former U.S. Senator George LeMieux and journalist Laura Mize as they profile and rank, according to impact, the twenty-five trailblazers who have changed the state forever.
Florida Made: The 25 Most Important Figures Who Shaped The State, has received the following awards/accolades:
2019 Education Commissioner Corcoran’s Back-to-school Reading List
2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist in the "Historical Non-Fiction" Category
2019 National Indie Excellence Awards, Winner in the "History: General" Category
2019 National Indie Excellence Awards, Finalist in the "Regional Nonfiction: Southeast" Category
2018 Florida Authors and Publishers Association President's Book Awards, Finalist in the "Florida Nonfiction Books for Adults" Category