It began in the 1980s with a simple lunch—the humorist Mifflin Lowe and an advertising guy. “He bought everything on the menu,” says Lowe, “and left like a dollar and two cents as a tip.” The encounter weighed on his mind the whole drive back, when it hit him—The Cheapskate’s Handbook, a humorous guide to being the best cheapskate one could be. Lowe debuted the first edition in 1986, garnering two printings, hundreds of thousands of copies sold and translations into languages like Italian and Norwegian. Radio appearances, TV interviews and interest from the National Enquirer followed. Now a Bird Key-based children’s author, Lowe unveils the newest edition of The Cheapskate’s Handbook this Thursday, Nov. 16, with a pair of book signings at Bookstore1Sarasota.

Originally chock-full of thrifty advice for the conscientious cheapskate, lessons include how to avoid generous impulses, how to date (cheaply), how to dress (even cheaper) and how to tip (don’t), Lowe has more than doubled the original text for this second edition, expanding the read from a breezy 104 pages to a hefty 270. Revisiting and revising the text for 2017 audiences, Lowe updates for modern times (more computers, fewer payphones), but also tackles some new topics. Favorites such as “How to Get Invited to a Friend’s Summer House” and “How to Go On a Ski Weekend With Friends” remain, enhanced by new chapters on “Codger Dodging” (how to avoid elderly parents moving in) and the companion piece “Growing Old Disgracefully.” (“You’re not getting older,” advises Lowe, “you’re getting cheaper.”) Learn how to dissuade trick-or-treaters with candy corn instead of kicking them down the stairs (“You can’t, because they might steal your hubcaps.”), and why to avoid a second marriage (“You weren’t paying attention the first time?”).

It’s all tongue-in-cheek and meant in good humor, but the basis of all humor is honesty, Lowe reminds, and it wasn’t difficult to get back into the cheapskate mindset. “All you have to be is honest,” he says. Everyone has an inner cheapskate somewhere, it seems, but few are afraid to let it out. “People go on Jerry Springer and blandly assert they’re shoe-sniffers and dog-stranglers, but no one would say they’re cheap,” he says. By receiving this book, someone else can say it for them.

Book signings for The Cheapskate’s Handbook and meet-and-greets with Mifflin Lowe will be at Bookstore1Sarasota on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 11am–1pm and again at 5:30pm.  

Pictured: Mifflin Lowe in an original photo for the first edition of "The Cheapskate's Handbook." Photo by Gene Dwiggins.

Teachers at three schools in Sarasota County were surprised this Tuesday, when they were revealed as the district’s elementary, middle and high school Teachers of the Year and the 2018 Teacher of the Year finalists. At Venice Elementary, Bethany Burnett was named the district’s Elementary Teacher of the Year. Burnett has been a teacher for 26 years, 20 of them in Sarasota County. She teaches fifth-grade inclusion, co-teaching with a colleague to help ensure that the individual needs of all students are met. At Booker Middle School, Allison Cohen teaches sixth-grade math and integrates English language arts into the math curriculum, and presents information in a variety of ways to meet the needs of each student. She has taught for 21 years—all of them with Sarasota County Schools. At Riverview High School, reigning district Teacher of the Year B.J. Ivey, who teaches and coaches at Riverview, passed the High School Teacher of the Year baton to English Language Arts teacher Es Swihart. Swihart has taught for 11 years, five of them in Sarasota County. She teaches English Literature and “English 1” to Pre-International Baccalaureate students. Superintendent of Schools Todd Bowden, School Board members, Education Foundation President Jennifer Vigne and others traveled by bus to deliver the news personally. One of the three finalists will be named the district’s overall Teacher of the Year at the Ignite Education event at the Westin Sarasota on Dec. 13. 

Sarasota County Schools

A free parking app for iOS and Android is now available in Sarasota on smartphones and tablets. The app, called Parker, helps drivers find a public parking space in downtown Sarasota, Southside Village, St. Armands Circle and Lido Beach. Parker combines data from sensors as well as other app users to provide a real-time map on your smartphone or tablet showing on street parking availability. Streets highlighted red on the map may not have open parking spaces, those highlighted yellow have some open spaces and streets highlighted green have several available parking spaces. Created by the company Streetline, the app provides directions to a parking area and reminds users where they parked as well as the parking time restrictions. Parker also provides hours of operation and prices for parking facilities. Merchants also can link to the app through their website, providing patrons with easy to access parking information. 

The Parker App

The Hermitage Artist Retreat has announced that Michael A. Gilkey Inc. has been hired to create and implement a landscaping plan for the gulf-front campus. The goal is to restore the property with native Florida plantings, create inspiring outdoor space for artists to work and to join the historic and administrative campuses. The new Hermitage landscape will utilize a native, indigenous palette of materials to create areas of beauty and privacy for artists, as well as gathering spaces for small and large groups. The project will be broken down into workable phases. The first phase will include a complete, accurate survey of the retreat, the restoration and renovation of the landscape at The Palm House, and the planting of a native buffer along Manasota Key Road. To preserve native ecology, the new concept will nourish the four ecosystems that are native to the Hermitage site: primary dune system, secondary dune system, mangrove swamp and coastal hammock. The landscape plan will culminate in the final piece of the mission statement—serving the community. There will be spaces for the internal community of artists to engage with each other and with the ecosystems of the site, as well as spaces for the Gulf Coast community to gather and glean inspiration from the work produced at this special retreat. The plan is projected to have a three-year timetable. 

Hermitage Artist Retreat

“She’s got decades of experience, and it shows in her clients’ happiness,” shares Cynthia Clark. Taking the step to buy a house is ...well, a big one.  Michael Saunders & Company agent Ryndie Brusco proved herself to be the true closer as 2017’s Best Local Real Estate Agent barely beating out first finalist Lynne Koy, a Coldwell Banker agent at Sarasota Luxury Real Estate on Longboat Key. Who do you trust in helping you achieve the American Dream? Click below to share your favorite restaurants, boutiques, parties and people in SRQ Magazine's 2018 Best of SRQ Local Readers Competition.

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