Cathy Salustri - The Roads Less Traveled

Gulfport journalist Cathy Salustri can remember the exact moment she decided to become a writer.

 

“I was in fifth grade,” she recalls. “The librarian said that I’d be a writer someday, I thought that was a good idea.” Since that day, Salustri has pursued a career that includes a stint at Tampa’s WQYK radio, 14 years writing for a local paper, and several years doing freelance reporting. She has worked as the Arts and Entertainment editor at Creative Loafing Tampa, and has added to her resume a nonfiction book chronicling her adventures traveling Florida’s backroads.

Born in Westchester County, New York, Salustri moved to Florida with her parents in 1980. “My grandmother had a vacation home in Clearwater, and my parents enjoyed life here,” she says. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in mass communications, Salustri went on to pursue a Master’s degree in Florida Studies at the University of South Florida. While there, she wrote a thesis which became the foundation for what would eventually become her first published book – Backroads of Paradise: A Journey to Rediscover Old Florida.

“When I was in grad school, I found a book called Guide to the Southernmost State published by the  WPA Federal Writers Project,” she says. “It followed 22 driving tours of what were then Florida’s main roads. With the coming of the interstate system, these became backroads." Researching the roads was a challenge, especially since Guide to the Southernmost State was written when two-thirds of Floridians lived north of Gainesville. “Finding the 1930s roads was difficult,” she admits. “I spent a couple of months at the dining room table with a highlighter and a map.”

 

Backroads of Paradise takes readers from US98 running from Pensacola to Tallahassee, down to Key West along US1, and everywhere in between. Salustri captures the natural beauty as well as the gritty underbelly of the state with prose that borders on poetic, her love and respect for Florida shining through. “All kinds of things have been written about Florida,” she explains. “It’s portrayed either as a commodity or a joke. My experience is of someone who travels Florida looking to see the good. The trip was such a positive experience, and when I read the book, it brings back memories that make me happy. I’m hoping it will inspire others to make similar memories.”

Salustri is currently under contract with her publisher, University Press of Florida, for a second book.

Salustri is passionate about changing the public perception of the Sunshine State. “I hope people who don’t live here will develop an appreciation for Florida,” she says. “The part of the state they saw when they visited Disney World or their Aunt Martha isn’t all there is. And I hope Floridians will take a second look at all these places. I thought I knew a lot about Florida before my road trip. Now I know that Florida is much more than the sum of its parts.”

For more information, or to listen to the podcast, go to www.cathysalustri.com.