Best-selling author Brad Meltzer moved to Florida as a child for financial reasons, back when it was more affordable.
He went on to write thriller novels and children’s books. One of his books was challenged for removal by a parent in a Florida school district.
Meltzer joined "The Florida Roundup" on Friday with host Tom Hudson to talk about free expression in the Sunshine State, what the escalating cost of living means for families hoping for a new start in Florida, and finding empathy in an increasingly polarized and politicized world.
ALSO READ: Q&A with 'I am Jim Henson' author
Meltzer's family came to Florida after his dad lost his job in Brooklyn. Without the money for a security deposit, he, his sister and his parents moved into a one-bedroom apartment leased by his grandparents.
Facing eviction, a kind neighbor let them move into her apartment while she went to live with her son.
“To this day … the nicest thing that anyone's probably ever done for my family,” Meltzer said.
Now with three kids in their late teens to early 20s, he’s thinking about their futures in Florida, and what role affordability plays as they think about creating a life here.
“Their home state is, sadly, no different than where what everyone in America is feeling right now; it is a time of struggle,” he said. “Anyone who has kids who are graduating college or graduating high school right now know it's one of the toughest job markets around and so, of course, that's what my kids are worried about.”
Political division – and unity – seen on his recent book tour
Brad Meltzer’s latest novel “The Viper” – described by fellow author S.A. Cosby as “a pulse- pounding adventure that takes you on a journey into the darkest recesses of the human heart” – was released this month.
Meltzer has been touring the country to promote it. He said other than Americans all facing issues with their pocketbooks, "the one thing that I'm seeing over and over again is there are things that we agree on. The average American just wants their family to be safe, their kids to be safe, to love and be loved.”
He said Democrats and Republicans will always disagree about policy, “but it feels like now there's an attack on just the values we live by, and you can't legislate kindness. You can't legislate decency.”
“What it feels like is an attack on the American dream.… We can disagree with someone politically and not attack them personally. That when someone dies, you don't dance on their grave, and you certainly don't put your name on public buildings like you own them, especially when you're putting your name above JFKs,” said Meltzer.
“The American dream is not about making money or power. That's nonsense to me. The American dream is about the idea that when you see someone being picked on, you use your voice and you say, 'Enough, enough already.' And my mother, may she rest in peace, taught me, you always make the best of yourself, but not by ripping apart other people or kicking them when they're down.”
On 'banned' books – and a challenge to one of his
In 2023, Meltzer’s book “I am Billie Jean King” was challenged by a Leon County parent who believed it to be developmentally inappropriate because it referenced sexual orientation. The school board ultimately voted to keep the book on the library shelves.
“I'm embarrassed,” Meltzer said about book removals in schools. “It's disgusting to me that we are still, that there are people cheering as books are being pulled off shelves.”
In reference to his own book being challenged, Meltzer said, “it has the word 'gay' in it. That's it. And it's a fact. … But you have one person who says, 'I'm offended,' and suddenly we have to take that book off the shelf.”
A caller to "The Florida Roundup" challenged Meltzer’s use of the word “banned,” saying the book was available online and in stores. Meltzer pushed back, calling it “splitting hairs.”
“Use the word frozen. Use whatever word you want. But I promise you this, that if you're cheering when books are being pulled off the shelf, you will eventually be revealed as the bad guy in the story every single time.”
Meltzer said as a kid, his books came from the library. His family couldn’t afford to buy them.
“If you froze my book and pulled ‘I am Billie Jean King’ off the shelf, then I can't have it. And if that's not a ban, I don't know what is.”
He said he believes in free speech, and in reading books to make sure they’re age-appropriate.
“I don't believe that someone should let their venomous hatred of gay people or brown people or Black people come in and let one person who is offended decide what the entire community reads.”
Meltzer’s kids show and PBS being defunded
Meltzer is the executive producer of a PBS Kids animated show called “Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum,” based on his book series. It follows three children as they tackle everyday problems by traveling back in time.
The Trump administration defunded the organization that financed PBS last year. In early January, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s board of directors formally voted to shut down the organization, which was created when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 into law.
He said his show, and all the others, are definitely at risk. He said few shows have new seasons up because they’re all figuring out how to keep the lights on.
He said even if his show wasn’t at risk of ending, he’d still fight for the others, like "Sesame Street" and "Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood."
“When I was 5 years old, a guy named Jim Henson and a guy named Mr. Rogers taught me that I could use my creativity to put good into the world,” said Meltzer.
Meltzer said while some people have the privilege of endless channels and streaming services, inner-city kids without those options are being impacted.
“That’s who you're hurting, and these kids who need it most, these kids who are seeing that there's a bigger world out there," said Meltzer. "For me, that's who I was. I was that kid that didn't have the funding. 'Sesame Street' looked like my street. It looked like a city street, and I was the first in my immediate family to go to a four-year college. I didn't know what college was. I saw that on television, and I think it's just terrible what’s happening.”
On empathy and a “culture of cruelty”
Meltzer pointed out that no political party owns patriotism. Republicans and Democrats and all those in between can be proud to be American, even if they're not proud of every single thing that happens here. But he said there is the issue of changing core values.
“I think as a core value, cruelty and venom and harshly judging those we disagree with, it's become sport in our culture, and cruelty and venom aren't signs of strength,” Meltzer said. “It's signs of weakness and petty insecurity. What takes strength is kindness. What takes strength is empathy.”
He said the United States has become a “cruel culture,” and it – at least in part - results from the White House’s “bulldozer effect.”
“We saw the East Wing get bulldozed, and I think that's going to make the cover of someone's book one day, but it is a metaphor on display, and … Democrats and Republicans were like, 'I may have signed up for some of this, but I didn't sign up for that.' And we're seeing a bulldozing, a bulldozing effect on empathy, on kindness, on decency, and that's where I feel like that's a long, lasting problem.”
This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Tom Hudson for "The Florida Roundup."
