by | March 2, 2026
Editor’s Note: 10 Years of Flamingo
Editor in Chief Jamie Rich reflects on the past 10 years of telling the Sunshine State's greatest stories.
Ten years have passed since we ran a story titled “Where Have All the Oysters Gone?” in Flamingo’s first issue. The piece laid out the dynamics of the “water war” between Florida and Georgia, warned of unstable salinity in Apalachicola Bay and chronicled the imminent threat to its natural oysters—a once-abundant delicacy harvested for two centuries.
To this day, it remains one of my favorite Flamingo stories, not only for its beautiful reporting and writing, but also for the stunning portraits of the oystermen.
That story marked the beginning of a decade of covering the Forgotten Coast and its bivalves. We’ve followed the collapse of commercial harvesting in Apalachicola Bay, the rise of innovative oyster farmers, the regeneration of natural reefs and the reopening of a short harvest season in January 2026. It’s been a hard-fought chapter in the life of a Florida icon—one that at times felt defeated, only to rise again a decade later.
To me, the Apalachicola oyster is the perfect Flamingo story. It’s a combination of roots, ruin and redemption that cracks open a niche Florida culture, emblematic and overlooked, and transports readers to a corner of the state they might never have gone without us to take them there.
Like the bay, Flamingo has waded through its own briny waters to arrive here stronger.
—Jamie Rich
Like the bay, Flamingo has waded through its own briny waters to arrive here stronger. There were moments of uncertainty, a pandemic that nearly shuttered us and lessons learned. But the work always pulled us forward. Good times and a steadfast focus on our mission to unify the state and create the destination for Florida’s greatest stories kept us determined.
At the heart of it all is an extraordinary community of designers, editors, writers, photographers, illustrators, advertising partners and readers who believe excellent storytelling matters and that Florida is worth honoring. This milestone is shaped by countless creative hands and curious minds who have built Flamingo into what it is today: Florida’s Magazine of the Year.
For those new to the flock—and for our day-one loyalists—inside this issue, we’ve assembled a collection of our favorite features from the past decade, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how these stories came to life through the perspectives of the Flamingo contributors and staff who created them. From there, we head south down Alligator Alley to the Miccosukee reservation, where we meet a woman preserving Native American cooking traditions and examine the history of Native foods. We geek out on physics at the MagLab, putting a long-standing hurricane myth to the test. We introduce 10 figures helping preserve Florida’s cultural fabric and ecosystems, from astronauts and activists to folk artists and fishing guides. We sit down with Southern rock royalty Devon Allman and Duane Betts, break bread with a father-daughter duo elevating Jacksonville’s dining scene and revisit iconic Florida inventions, from Gatorade to Tupperware. It’s a best-of lineup—celebrated names alongside little-known warriors—each shaping the state.
You may also notice that things feel a bit different inside. In honor of our 10th anniversary, Vol. 31 is arriving with a refreshed look, starting with our first-ever illustrated cover. The refresh leans into our signature Art Deco aesthetic while embracing a more modern design that lets the stories shine. Two new departments join the mix: Native, spotlighting indigenous plants and animals, and Good Sport, offering a window into Florida’s water and adventure sports. Plume, our Florida author series, returns from the vault, and Florida Wild, our long-standing photo column by Carlton Ward Jr., appears in this issue as a special pull-out poster—our thank-you to you.
Ten years in and the purpose behind what we do remains the same: Florida is complex, resilient and an endless well of stories. Thank you for reading, believing and traveling the backwaters and byways with us. We’re still just getting started.
For more editor’s notes from Jamie Rich, click here.
About the Author
As an editor and journalist, Jamie has covered travel and culture around the world. Her work has appeared in national and international publications. She spent much of her professional life abroad and worked in newsrooms from The Moscow Times to The Times of London. She holds degrees from Florida State and Georgetown. She founded Flamingo in 2015.
