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Letter to the editor

Environment's protectors earn high praise at tribute

Friends remember Hank and Miriam Cohen as a team whose work promoted orderly growth legislation.

By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published May 2, 2005

INVERNESS - In the end, it was just what Hank and Miriam Cohen wished for: their ashes were scattered together Friday on the waters of Lake Tsala Apopka, near a stretch of the Rails to Trails park where wildflowers bloomed.

On Sunday, friends gathered for a memorial service to remember the life's work of the husband and wife team whose doggedness is credited with creating the environmental awareness that exists in Citrus County today.

Although they were working journalists with long stints at The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times , Hank and Miriam Cohen discovered a new passion in their lives: protecting Citrus County from overdevelopment. Hank Cohen served a four-year term as county commissioner starting in 1986 and Miriam was his chief of staff, gathering information to combat developments. They were successful in stopping early condo projects, such as Peppin's Moorings on the shores of Lake Tsala Apopka in Floral City and Kings Bay Village in Crystal River.

"They were pioneers at a time when Citrus County needed pioneers," said Gary Maidhoff the county's director of development services.

"They helped establish policies that turned the corner, as far as early environmental awareness was concerned."

Hank Cohen died Oct. 13, 2004, at 85, and his wife, Miriam, followed about six months later, dying at 84 on April 15.

Together they helped shape the legislation that is used to promote orderly growth in Citrus County, while at the same time protecting the environment, according to many of those in attendance at Sunday's memorial.

The second floor of the Historic Courthouse Heritage Museum was turned into a photo exhibit of Hank Cohen's works, mostly in black and white and taken with a large format film camera.

The audience also saw a slide show of Cohen's personal photos, with two songs What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and If I Could Change The World by Eric Clapton as accompaniment.

First-term County Commissioner Dennis Damato said of the Cohens: "They came to live here at a crucial time in Citrus County - the first growth spurt of the late '70s and early '80s.

"They saw what happened in South Florida and were determined not to let it happen here," Damato said. "They became a lightning rod for their activist views, but they led the charge."

County Commissioner Gary Bartell, who was elected to the board in the same election during which Cohen was defeated, said that he was "thankful for Hank and Miriam, and the policies they helped establish.

"They set the footprint for the comprehensive plan, and for that they have my respect."

Marion Knudsen, a member of the county's planning board who is known for her environmentalism, recalled how Hank Cohen persuaded her to seek an appointment.

"He opened the door for me, I walked through it and have never looked back, and that was 18 years ago," she said.

--Jorge Sanchez can be reached at 860-7313 or e-mail at sanchez@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 2, 2005, 01:35:17]