John Sugg, senior editor for the Creative Loafing group of alternative newsweeklies, differs from right-wing pundits in many regards. For example, he is not addicted to OxyContin, has never been convicted of felonious acts that undermined the United States, is not a $200-an-hour prostitute who uses a fake name, and he checks his facts.
Sugg does have almost 30 years of journalism experience. He held senior writing and editing positions at The Miami Herald, The Atlanta Constitution, The Palm Beach Post and American Lawyer publications before joining Tampa's Weekly Planet in 1995. After the Planet merged with the Creative Loafing group, Sugg moved to Atlanta in 2001.
Of the more than three dozen significant awards (plus boxes of others for some reason not deemed significant) he has won, Sugg remarks: "Journalists give more awards to themselves than any other profession, but what the hell, they're great for covering the walls." Sugg's awards include honors from Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Sugg concedes that he was born in Miami. "Well, actually, it was Coral Gables, but it was still considered Yankee territory," Sugg says, noting that five generations of his family before him were born in Key West. "It's amazing, but I have cousins in the Conch Republic who have never been to prison."
Sugg counts among his most memorable moments attending the founding of the Conch Republic on April 23, 1982, at Mallory Square in Key West. "I was living on my sailboat in Key Largo, and it just seemed like it would be one helluva party," Sugg says explaining his patriotic fervor.
On a more serious note (and Sugg is serious about being serious), Sugg began political activistism when he was 14. He worked on various civil rights and voting rights programs in the South, and at the University of Florida ("being a sophomore was the best three years of my life"), he was a state leader of Students for a Democratic Society and national anti-war coalitions. That activism -- the belief we can achieve a just society and a peaceful world -- is the underpinning of his commentaries.
Sugg graduated from UF, and later taught journalism at Florida International University. "I don't think any of the kids were permanently damaged," he recalls.
Ending more than 40 years of prolonged adolescence, Sugg married anthropologist Catherine King in 1992, and they adopted five children in 1999.
