William Francis Whitman Jr. (1914–2007) was a horticulturist who prospected for unusual tropical fruits around the world and helped popularize many of them in the United States.
He was born in 1914 in Chicago, a son of Leona and William Francis Whitman Sr.. His father owned a printing company in Chicago and later developed real estate in
Miami, Florida
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. He sailed to Tahiti, and was fascinated by the tropical fruits.
Whitman was one of the founders of The
Rare Fruit Council International, then known as The Rare Fruit Council, A Tropical Study Group, based in Miami, and was its first president, from 1955 to 1960. He introduced to Florida the
Kohala longan. He was also inducted into the
East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame in 1998. William got his degree from the University of Florida in administration.
Publications
*Five Decades with Tropical Fruit (2001)
References
*
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
; June 4, 2007; Bill Whitman, 92, Is Dead; Scoured the Earth for Rare Fruit.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitman, William Francis Jr.
1914 births
2007 deaths
American horticulturists