VERO BEACH — Vero Beach author/journalist Rody Johnson packed the 800 seat house at The Emerson Center, when he addressed the crowd at the Florida Humanities Series presentation in January.
Johnson, author of the “World War II U-boat Attack off Vero Beach” wrote a touching remembrance to his father. During the early days of World War II, German U-boats crept along the U.S. east Coast off of Vero Beach.
As a child, Johnson heard whispers about them and his father, Kit Johnson, a Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteer, patrolled the coastline in his small fishing craft to search for and rescue the survivors of ships torpedoed by the Germans.
The Florida Humanities Series, in partnership with the Florida Humanities Council and sponsored in part by Marine Bank & Trust, is presented by The Emerson Center at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Vero Beach.
Three more acclaimed speakers and performers will be presented free at the Center now through April 2014, with all presentations relating to Florida history and issues.
Admission to each is complimentary and all performances will begin at 7 p.m.
Other performances in the Humanities Series will include:
Feb. 13 – “The Unconquered Seminole People and their traditions”;
March 6 – “Sea Cows, Seaweed and Spanish Moss: How Floridians Coped when Times were Hard”;
and concluding the series on April 3 is “St. Augustine’s Unseen Heritage: The Archaeology of Early Colonial Life in America’s Oldest European Community.”
The capacity of the Emerson Center is more than 800; free admission will be offered on a first-come first-served basis. The Emerson Center is handicap accessible and is conveniently located at 1590 27th Avenue, on the SE corner of 16th Street and 27th Avenue in Vero Beach.
For more information, contact 772-778-5249.
