Doug Cifers
by Bill Ernst
The publisher of Florida Monthly and other Florida publications—Real Florida, Florida Homes & Lifestyles, Florida Fishing & Boating Guide, Florida Spring Training Guide, and a dozen more—explores, preserves and celebrates Florida's heritage each month.
In an unassuming building off Douglas Avenue in Altamonte Springs is the home of publishing company Florida Media and its flagship magazine, Florida Monthly, a venerable encyclopedia of all things Florida. At the helm is Doug Cifers, a native Floridian who seems to have always been destined to steer this ship.
Cifer's publications chronicle not only the state's history but his own youth. Cifers, who grew up in the Keys in the 1950s, has collected many forms of Florida memorabilia over the years. (He remembers when one could buy Highwaymen paintings along the road for a dollar each.) He has a large collection of orange-crate art, and an unparalleled collection of Florida music on 45s, some of which he stores in the 1969 Rockola jukebox in his cozy game room (and 20,000 more 45s in another room!). It's almost as if while he was living "the Florida dream," he kept and preserved the things that most endeared Florida to him, memories he shares with his readers each month.
In addition to collecting memories and memorabilia, he has also made many friends. Cifer's is one of the best-connected people in the state. He knew former governor Lawton Chiles, he knows Gov. Charlie Crist, and everyone-who's-anyone in Florida business, government and beyond, from Jimmy Buffett to Jeb Bush. It's part of his job—and he likes his job.
He knows the people who love and embody Florida. Cifers' circle of friends cuts a wide and colorful swath through the state. "I don't know of any person who knows more people in all 67 counties than Doug Ciphers," Lawton Chiles once said. From former drug smugglers to governors, Cifers is comfortable with people of many lifestyles, as long as they share his appreciation of all things Florida.
In addition to Florida Media, Cifers has had his hand in many business ventures over the years. And like most things that interest him, these too are "Florida," from orange juice to bottled-water (AquaClara). His business partners have included notable Floridians such as long-time friend Chris Collinsworth, and tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams (for SerVen, a bottled- water product). Another venture, Sunrayz Products, created other beverage brands, including one touted as "the official Florida orange juice." After a few years of its ups and downs, he got out of the water business, and got back in the magazine business to stay. He has started (and in some cases later sold) a number of publications, including one with Westgate developer David Siegel, which is still going strong.
But that's not to say Cifers can keep from launching successful new products. His latest side venture is the PWC Coolermate, a device that hooks onto the back of any jet ski and is large enough to hold a 48-gallon cooler and a few chairs. The Coolermate also has an optional angler's package that includes two rod holders and a utility-knife holder.
"One of the biggest complaints personal-watercraft owners voice is a lack of storage for beverages, food, ice and personal items," says Cifer, an avid jet-skier himself. "And now with gas prices so high, big boat owners are not going as far, and they are using their jet skis more."
The Coolermate is the brainchild of Charles Steffy, Cifers' neighbor, an engineer and custom builder who decided to pursue his passion: life on the water. They are 50-50 partners, and have just produced their first 1,000 coolers. They'll promote it in Florida Monthly as well as the official Florida state transportation map.
Early Days
Born in the Keys, Cifers spent his first 18 years there. The family's house was on the water and, typical for the time and place, not air-conditioned. He also recalls the drinking water as being very sulfuric. "The municipal water across the state was that way at the time," he says, "so we would drink our water with lemons in it just to make it palatable."
He attended Central Catholic High School in the middle Keys and graduated from Wallace College in Alabama, majoring in computer science. His first job was at the Key West Citizen, published by Thompson, the largest newspaper company in North America. His boss at the Citizen landed him an even better job with the company, a formidable one for a young man: part of a training program that exposed him to a variety of newspapers, regions and responsibilities. He was to leave the division office in Tampa, fly to one of the company's many news bureaus, then report back. Among those he visited were Clay Today (Clay County, FL) and the Dothan Eagle (Alabama), as well as reviewing operations at newspapers in Oklahoma, California, Maryland, Ohio and elsewhere in the Midwest.
At about this time, Cifers was drafted. He served 14 months with special forces in Vietnam, where he was exposed to Agent Orange, causing health issues he still deals with. (He later developed cancer, but is cancer-free now.) None of it slows him down.
After Viet Nam he went back to Thompson, where he stayed into the '80s—excellent training for a future publisher, and magazines have always been his love. "I'm not cut out to be a newspaper person," Cifers says. "Telling people the good things about life is really what it's all about for me. You couldn't be in a better place than Florida to send that kind of message, which is what I enjoy."
After Thompson, he worked for Scripps-Howard in California, where he ran that company's business journals in San Diego, Orange County, and LA. After that, he joined California magazine in 1983, where he rediscovered his love of magazines. He launched LA Business and was associate publisher at Success until 1993. He returned to Florida intent on starting a magazine here.
Florida Dreaming
Cifers was walking along New Smyrna Beach one day and picked up a copy of Florida Monthly. Like most magazine people, he turned to the masthead first (the list of publishers, editors and contributors), where he saw the name John Paul Jones. He knew Jones from UF. He called him and learned that Jones was in a nursing home. Cifers went to visit him and spent an entire day. They made a deal, and Cifers came away with partial ownership of the magazine.
Members of Jones's family were producing the magazine, and they wanted out. But Cifers wasn't sure this new venture would work. The magazine didn't take in much money, and it was the company's only product. Cifers travelled a lot at this time, putting deals together and selling advertising. Along the way they he spearheaded the launch of an in-flight magazine for Continental Connection airline, and developed a sports and fitness magazine. Those additional publications generated the funds they needed to promote Florida Monthly more aggressively.
The Jones family got its wish in 1997, when Cifers bought out the family's stock. That same year, he moved the company to Orlando to tap into the area's talent pool. Over the next 10 years the company grew into the multi-magazine, multi-million dollar corporation it is today.
Cifers' vision for his company was to mirror and piggyback on any other group that marketed themselves statewide. State agencies came to mind. And so today, Florida Monthly's recipe section comes from the Florida Dept. of Agriculture, recipes that use only Florida-grown or Florida-produced products. And every issue has a two-page "department" article from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about Florida, and articles from the State Park Service and the Greenways and Trails office.
It has worked very well since around 1995. Florida Media works closely with the Florida Sports Foundation. They publish the Florida Fishing and Boating Guide and the Florida Spring Training Guide. Two years ago the company took over the official Florida State transportation map, distributing more than 1,300,000 copies at welcome centers throughout the state.
In addition to its portfolio of magazines, Florida Media publishes books on Florida history written by many of Florida's colorful personalities. Among them is Something Left Behind, a collection of personal stories, poems, pictures and thoughts on the world of Florida wrestling and stock-car racing by Gordon Solie, the "Dean of Professional Wrestling Announcers." Another is Florida's Famous and Forgotten, a 1,000-page, two-volume set by Kurt "KOTO" ("King of the Oldies") Curtis, which chronicles the careers of nearly every Florida band from 1955-1985.
Telling the Story Himself
In his early days with Florida Monthly, Cifers wrote many of the articles himself. Even though their market was 67 counties large, he soon realized he could tell the stories much more effectively if he met the people and wrote the story. And so he did. Which is how he came about to write about some of the famous, infamous, and otherwise colorful people he met and wrote about, like Totch Brown.
When the fishing business went south in the early '70s, some of the fishermen of Chokoleski and Everglades City were introduced to drug smuggling. Sooner or later many were convicted of drug trafficking or conspiracy to obstruct justice. Totch Brown was one of them. When he was released from prison, he sold his story to PBS and made a fortune. He died a few years ago, but Florida Media still sells his videos.
And there are business people from every corner of the state. George Jenkins, founder of Publix. James Billie, former chairman of the Seminole tribe in the Everglades. Dean Fowler in Steinhatchee Landing and Schrader Miller in Cedar Key. And John Paul Jones, aforementioned founder of Florida Monthly and the Dean of the UF School of Journalism for 32 years.
"He was a 24-carat Southern gentleman," says Cifers. "He taught me a lot about life late in my life—among them that nothing is so bad that you can't laugh at yourself." As a former dean, Jones "graduated approximately 45,000 students in the journalism, telecommunications, public relations, advertising and graphic design. Those students are right here in Florida." Cifers is happy to tap into the local talent that is Jones's legacy.
Family Matters
Cifers and his wife Kristen have been together 12 years. Kristen is Executive Editor and general manager of all of the company's publications. Their daughter Britney, 18, will attend the University of South Florida in the fall; their son Cris, 7, is a student at Sweetwater Episcopal Academy in Longwood. The Cifers are committed to Seminole County.
"I've been intimate with all 67 counties in the state of Florida," Cifer says. "I can't think of a better place than Seminole County . . . Seminole County has some of the best leaders in the state. I like the way they operate here."
Cifer spent five years on the Board of Directors for Florida State Parks, and has visited 120 of the 162 state parks. "When I retired from the board, they gave me two photos: One was the John Pennekamp Coral Reef state park, because John and I launched Real Florida [magazine] together, and one of the Wekiva River state park because I live there. They are in the front foyer of the Florida Media offices. I am as proud of those two pieces as I am proud of anything I have in the place."
"And I can't think of a better place in Seminole County to live than Lake Mary," he adds. "I love where I live. I'm close to the St. Johns River, and good restaurants—one of my favorites is Luigino's at Heathrow. Another one I like is Gators on the River, on the other side of Sanford. The best hamburger I've ever had is in Boat Tree Marina [in] the little deli where the old woman cooks those burgers. They are the best in the world." And he doesn't have to fight traffic. "My office is 12 minutes from my home. I don't have to get on I-4."
"It's Home."
Just as Florida Monthly is a collection of all things Florida, so too is his home. On some of the walls of the Cifer home are custom murals by Winter Park artist Barbara Prest, who did faux treatments on walls and ceilings to tie color schemes and themes together. She also painted the faux brick alcove mural where he displays a wood carving he bought at the grand opening of Ruth's Chris in Lake Mary as part of the Kat-Rita wood project to benefit New Orleans hurricane victims.
Cifers is a collector (remember all those 45s!). He has an impressive wine cellar. He has 4,000 citrus-crate labels. And there's an amazing collection of Gator memorabilia in his office at home, including a national-championship football signed by Steve Spurrier and Danny Weurfel. And that's fitting: Cifers has a long association with the University of Florida and Gator sports. He created an endowment in honor of the magazine, his family, and the Millennium Football Reunion. He was a frequent speaker in the journalism department (and many of his early employees were graduates, Kristen Cifers among them). He sponsored the Chris Collinsworth Charity Golf Tournament for 10 years, and is still on the board.
He champions Florida artists, as well. All of the Florida Monthly covers from 1981 to 1989 featured work by Florida artists as a way to help boost their careers. And of course he owns Florida art, including a painting by Sam Newton, one of the most famous of the Florida Highwaymen.
All told, Cifers' life, work and interest in all things Florida are not just an affirmation of the past, but a guidepost to the future. "If we don't know where we've been, we can't know where we're going," he says. "Our history, our nature, our culture. Florida Monthly is not only the ultimate document of the Florida lifestyle, it is the bellwether of its preservation."
Bill Ernst is the publisher of Seminole magazine.
