The Stories that Shape Us
- Vero Minute
- Jul 28
- 2 min read
Why do we crave hearing stories about ghostly figures and outlaw gangs when today we can simply fact-check everything on our phones?
Dr. Caren Neile had answers, and they came alive through Florida's wildest legends at Saturday's packed Leonhardt Auditorium at the Vero Beach Museum or Art — from the Ashley Gang's bank-robbing exploits that once terrorized South Florida communities not far from Vero Beach and Bellamy Bridge's restless ghost to the geological mystery of the Devil's Millhopper.
What made the evening most compelling was Dr. Neile's argument that these stories capture so much truth about Florida life, even when the facts get fuzzy. Her presentation, drawn from her book Florida Lore, served as the perfect companion to VBMA's current exhibition A Tangled Plot: Works by Annie Blazejack and Geddes Levenson.
Both show how Florida transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary—criminals become folk heroes, our landscapes set stages for impossible tales, and storytellers whose facts might be questionable still reveal essential truths about what it means to call this place home.
As the applause faded, the message was clear: every Floridian has lived through moments that would sound like folklore to outsiders. Dr. Neile is collecting those stories, ensuring they don't get lost in our rush toward the digital future.
Got your own Florida story to share? We want to consider it for Vero Minute -- and we'll pass it on to Dr. Neile for consideration as a 5-minute radio segment on WLRN's "the Public Storyteller." Submit your story here
