Florida Wildlife Viewing - About Us

M. Timothy O'Keefe has specialized in outdoor and travel writing and photography for more than 30 years.

A past president of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association and also the Society of American Travel Writers, Tim has published 14 books and more than a thousand paid magazine and newspaper articles.

His writing and photography have won more than 50 regional and national awards. Tampa Bay Magazine has called him "Florida 's Premier Outdoor Photographer and Writer."

The Florida Audubon Society presented him with a Special Award "For Continuous Support of the Florida Audubon Society Through Notable Contributions to The Florida Naturalist."

Most of Tim's books are illustrated with his photographs. He has published more 12,000 photographs worldwide, including eight National Geographic Society books, various Time-Life Books, Destination Discovery, Caribbean Travel & Life, Florida Travel & Life, Reader's Digest, Smithsonian, Scientific
American, Endless Vacation, Islands, Outside, Newsweek, New York Times, Chicago Tribune and all major Florida newspapers.

His photographs also appear in two coffee table books about Florida: Florida On My Mind (Falcon Publishing) and Florida (Communication Arts). He was a major contributor to National Geographic's Guide to Caribbean Family Vacations.

His books include the first complete book on hiking in Florida titled The Hikers Guide to Florida (Falcon Press). The second edition was renamed to Hiking Florida for three editions. Regional books included Hiking North Florida and the Panhandle, Hiking Central Florida; Hiking South Florida and The Keys (all by Falcon Press); Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year: Florida and the Alabama and Georgia Coasts (Fulcrum Publishing); The Spicy Camp Cook Book (Menasha Ridge Press); Great Adventures in Florida (Menasha Ridge Press), two editions; Caribbean Hiking (Menasha Ridge Press) two editions; and Photographer's Guide to The Everglades: Where to Find Perfect Shots and How to Take Them (Countryman Press).

Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year and The Spicy Camp Cook Book were named the "Best Book" of the year by the Florida Outdoor Writers Association.

Tim has published six additional books with Larsen's Outdoor Publishing in Lakeland, which was one of Florida 's largest publishers of outdoors-related books. They are Sea Turtles, The Watcher's Guide; Manatees, Florida's Vanishing Mermaids; If I Were A Manatee; Diving to Adventure; and Fish and Dive the Caribbean and Fish and Dive Florida & The Keys, (both co-authored with Larry Larsen). Fish and Dive the Caribbean was a finalist for "Best Content" in the annual competition of the National Association of Independent Publishers.

Tim holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and founded the Journalism division in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida, where he taught for 34 years.

In addition to Florida Wildlife Viewing, Tim also publishes Guide To Caribbean Vacations.

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