Kerry Speckman

The Specktator

November 1, 2023

Words by Kerry Speckman Shout out to River City Pride and anyone and everyone who make Pride Month such a beautiful success. A personal highlight was seeing Mayor Donna Deegan serve as grand marshal of the Pride parade. It should be a requirement for all future mayors. If you thought you were in a Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce-free zone, you are

Concerts·Events·Feature

The Jacksonville Jazz Festival Returns May 23-26: Don’t Miss a Single Beat

By Kerry Speckman Without question, the Jacksonville Jazz Festival is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year. And the 2024 version, held May 23-26, will be no exception boasting performances from Brian Culbertson, the Brian McKnight 4, the Stanley Clarke Band, Joss Stone and Robin Thicke (yes, he

Wildlife in the City

Words by Kerry Speckman Austin Huhn will never forget his first day

Theresa Caputo (aka The Long Island Medium) Brings Messages of Love and Peace … From the Great Beyond

Words by Kerry Speckman “I’ll be the first to admit, what I

The Specktator

April 1, 2024

gossip

===== Whether it’s a contestant from Jacksonville on “American Idol” (is that thing still on?) or comedian Katt Williams’ riffing on Washington Heights and Eureka Gardens in a Netflix special, I love when our fair city gets randomly mentioned on a TV show (good or bad), probably because I feel

2024 Oscars

February 29, 2024

Editorial Opinion·Events·Feature

Words by Kerry Speckman Awards season is in full swing with the nominees for this year’s Oscars being set. 2023 was, to put it mildly, a mixed bag for Hollywood; the blockbuster bubble seemingly burst with a string of “safe” tentpoles collapsing in on themselves, and the industry-halting strikes

The Specktator

December 29, 2023

gossip

Words by Kerry Speckman It’s that time of year again! Time to make promises to yourself, proclaim them on social media, publicly swear you’re going to stick to them … only to give up by National Pizza Week*. My point here,

The Specktator

November 30, 2023

Editorial Opinion·Feature

Of all the Merriam-Webster’s words of the year, 2023’s might just be my favorite: authentic. For one, it’s something I strive to be as much as possible (for better or worse). Plus, it reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: “The thing about quotes from the Internet is that

Lucy’s Legacy

November 21, 2023

Community·Feature

Turning lemons into lemonade stands and funding for childhood cancer Words by Kerry Speckman Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children past infancy in the U.S. Let that sink in for a minute. Then consider this. The federal government allocates billions of dollars each year to

The Specktator

September 29, 2023

Opinion

Words by Kerry Speckman One of my all-time favorite nuggets of Jax trivia is that it’s the birthplace — and final resting place — of actress Alice Nunn. Never heard of her? Well, if you missed her as Passenger with Dog in “Airport 75,” Lady With Wallet in “Petticoat

The Specktator

August 29, 2023

Community·Editorial Opinion·Feature

Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” alum Pete Davidson scheduled a last-minute date for two shows at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall late last month. I, for one, was not willing to spend a car payment to see him, which is a relief since I saw some very mixed reviews on FB

The Specktator

August 1, 2023

Community·Editorial Opinion·Feature·Lifestyle

Words by Kerry Speckman You may know Grant Nielsen as an award-winning artist, musician (Jacksonvegas, Fusebox Funk) and/or all-around cool dude. Add “author” to that list because Nielsen released his first novel. Since I’m not a book reviewer and it is a sci-fiction book, I thought it would be

The Specktator

June 7, 2023

Editorial Opinion·Feature

Hurricane season hits June 1. Prepare yourself for months of weather alerts, more weather alerts, breaking weather alerts, more breaking weather alerts … and fresh memes of Jacksonville treasure Lane Pittman (aka Florida Man). 🤟 Hearts are breaking all over the world as globe-trotting conductor and Jacksonville Symphony music director

The Specktator

May 1, 2023

Editorial Opinion·Feature

Jags QB Trevor Lawrence was recently spotted at European Street Cafe in Jax Beach and, according to my source, he ate a tuna fish sandwich (no deets on the kind of bread). This coupled with the fact he is 6’6” (as well as my love of “The Office”), inspired me