People Profiles

If there’s anyone who can claim that they’re living their best life, it’s Ron Magill, whose job as Zoo Miami’s goodwill ambassador and communications director has taken him around the world. “I’ve put radio collars on lions in the Serengeti. I’ve tracked tigers … in India. I’ve tracked polar bears in the Arctic. I’ve gone

Helen Witty remembers the day she heard sirens wailing down her quiet neighborhood block in Pinecrest. It was a clear June afternoon when her daughter, 16-year-old Helen Marie, had left the house to go inline skating on a bike path near the family’s home, something she often did after school. “I had just gotten home

Pictured above, from left: Rebecca Schneid and Melissa Falkowski Lead photograph by Eduardo Schneider They hid from the gunfire. They ran through the halls and, in some cases, past their slain classmates. They attended funerals and prayed for their friends still recovering in the hospital. They spoke to members of the print media and did

Above: (from left) Andrea Peña and Sawyer Garrity Photo by Eduardo Schneider It started with a voice memo last Feb. 17, three days after the deadliest high school shooting in United States history. The chords that Andrea Peña texted her classmate, Sawyer Garrity, seemed to be pouring out of her on that Saturday. Garrity knew

Photography by Eduardo Schneider Manuel Oliver defines himself differently than he did a year ago. For one, he’s gone from artist to “artivist”—that is, he uses his art to create change. You can call him an activist, but he prefers his coined word instead. He’s also well-schooled in politics, something in which he had a

The working title of Marlee Matlin’s February presentation during the Broward College Speaker Series borrows from a children’s book she co-wrote in 2007. But the idea that “Nobody’s Perfect” resonates throughout the causes connected to promoting inclusion for which the Academy Award-winning actress, who lost her hearing at 18 months old, continues to advocate. In

I was born without a physical ear, and no ear canal, on my left side. Over the years, I had surgeries meant to replicate the ear structure. They took cartilage out of my rib cage and sculpted it; then they wrapped it in a nice bow with skin grafts. It took eight surgeries—the first one

Bill Kerdyk Jr. has never been one to keep still. At one point, he was serving as vice mayor of Coral Gables, running his real estate business, heading a golfing business and serving as chairman of the board of the Bank of Coral Gables. Keeping busy in service to others runs in his family. His

With a high prevalence of mental illness and substance abuse, South Florida represents one of the nation’s areas of unmet need. No one knows this better than John W. Newcomer, a psychiatrist who has dedicated the past 30 years to studying mental illness and substance abuse.  For more than 20 years, the Pinecrest resident worked

Cynthia Kohanek, a Pinecrest Elementary School music teacher, remembers Camila Cabello like it was yesterday. Cabello, a Cuban-American singer-songwriter and a former member of the pop group Fifth Harmony, was one of Kohanek’s star choral students. She also was named best new artist at the 2018 American Music Awards. Then there’s Ashley Levin, a contestant

When Chelsea Wilkerson, the CEO of the Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida, is asked to tell a story about one of the 300 troops served by the council—one of seven in Florida—she can’t pick just one. It’s understandable, given that Wilkerson has witnessed the 3,500 girl members and 2,000 adult members change their communities and

For the record, Sally Kohn does not claim to be perfect. She has no interest in being chief of the hate police. And despite the playful jabs she takes at Kenny G in her book, The Opposite of Hate, she has nothing against him personally. (She just isn’t a fan of his music.) But after