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Commissioner Robert Stewart launches 'Orlando History Makers' podcast as a retirement gift
Summary
Orlando City Commissioner Robert Stewart, who says he will retire after 20 years in office, debuted an episode of Orlando History Makers featuring former Mayor Bill Frederick and framed the series as an effort to preserve local civic memory.
Orlando City Commissioner Robert Stewart used the opening of a podcast episode to announce his impending retirement and to launch Orlando History Makers, a short oral-history program intended as a "gift of history."
“Very soon, I'll be retiring from my position after 20 years of service to the citizens of Orlando,” Stewart said at the start of the episode. He told listeners he created the podcast to share stories about people who shaped the city's development and to encourage interest in Orlando’s civic history.
Stewart introduced former Mayor Bill Frederick and his wife Joanne and guided a roughly hour-long conversation that covered Frederick’s early life, legal career, public-defender service, infrastructure work and the political push to build a downtown arena. Stewart apologized for the episode's poor microphone quality after visiting Frederick at his home, saying the technical issue would not detract from the stories.
At the close, Stewart directed listeners to orlandomemory.info and resources in the Orange County Library system for additional materials and recommended Frederick’s memoir, A Mayor’s Tale.
The episode positions Stewart’s podcast as a short-format local-history series produced while he is still in office and accessible through local archives and library resources.
