The Life of Bill Baggs, with Amy Paige Condon
Written by Sophie Leopold / Amy’s headshot: Siobhan Egan
This week on the podcast Bevin and Siobhan sat down with Amy Paige Condon, writer and long time friend of Paprika Southern, to discuss her latest book. Amy’s nonfiction biography, A Nervous Man Shouldn’t Be Here in the First Place, available as of October 20, chronicles the life of Miami journalist Bill Bags.
Amy reflects on the writing and research process as a series of serendipitous moments. Her initial idea for the book originated over a decade ago, working in Miami as a county park planner. After hurricanes, state parks were often used as holding spaces for fallen debris. While assessing damage in the Key Biscayne area, Amy visited Bill Baggs State Park. This was the first she had heard of the man she would come to spend twelve years getting to know, if posthumously. With a background in journalism, the park named after a former Miami News editor stuck with her, and sent her searching for why.
The land bears his name because Baggs saved it from development by, of course, writing. His open letter published on the afternoon paper’s front page persuaded the property owners to preserve the natural seaside beauty instead of constructing another complex of high rise condos. At the peak of his career in the ’50s and ’60s, Baggs was rather progessive for his era. He was not only an early advocate for environmental protection, but also a rare Southern editorial voice championing Civil Rights.
During his time at The Miami News Baggs built a network of unprecedented diversity. According to Amy, Baggs spoke to anyone, from conversations on neighborhood streets to a direct line in the oval office. Baggs considered those on the margins equally important to those making the decisions. Despite the breadth of his circle, Baggs was still a white Southern gentleman, and often unpopular within his own community. He didn’t allow these opinions to become obstacles. For every piece of hate mail sent his way, Baggs responded with “this is not a simple life my friend, and there are no simple answers.” This slogan, emblazoned on a stamp for ease of distribution, is also one of the artifacts Amy was able to examine up close. Meeting with a former colleague of Baggs at a Panera, she was taken aback when he surprised her with the stamp. A rush of feeling as though he was sitting there with me, Amy said. The picture she snapped of the stamp on that Panera table now appears in the pages of the book.
Amy couldn’t be more humbled by how applicable the lessons of Bagg’s life are to today’s confusing world. Don’t miss each of the splendid details that lead Amy from inspiration to publication in episode eight of PS!
