Epcot International Flower & Garden
Festival
Great American Gardener Bios
Ralph Snodsmith - April 20 & 21
Ralph Snodsmith has worked in the horticulture industry for over 40 years. For over 34
years, he has hosted the “Garden Hotline®” radio show, broadcast in New York,
Connecticut and New Jersey, and for eight years nationwide on the WOR Radio Network.
Snodsmith was the host of the original “Garden Hotline” radio show on WKRL in
Pomona, N.Y., for over 30 years, and for 10 years he was the resident horticulturist on
the ABC Talk Radio Weekend “Garden Hotline,” reaching 155 major markets across
the United States.
In addition to radio broadcasting, Snodsmith has written numerous articles for local and national publications, including the New York Times, the Journal News, and the Sunday Record Call. He has also contributed to the Americana Encyclopedia, written the New York Gardener's Guide and Ralph Snodsmith's Fundamentals of Gardening, and lectured for more than 25 years at the New York Botanical Garden.
Snodsmith was the garden editor for ABC TV’s “Good Morning America” from 1987 through 1995 and also the host of “Flower Time with Ralph Snodsmith” on Newsday Cable TV in Long Island, N.Y., for three years.
Robert Bowden - April 27 & 28
Robert Bowden is the director of Harry P. Leu Botanical Gardens in Orlando, Fla.
Kathryn Pufahl - May 4 & 5
Thirteen years ago, Kathryn Pufahl, owner and president of Beds & Borders, Inc. in
Laurel, N.Y., started her business in one small greenhouse. In 1997, she expanded to a
two-acre glass range and is now the premier wholesale supplier of unusual annuals and
non-hardy plant material in the northeast. In 1999, Grower Talks magazine named
Beds & Borders as one of the “Top Ten Up and Coming Growers.”
Pufahl has lectured numerous times for many organizations including the American Horticultural Society, Longwood Gardens, Southeast Greenhouse Growers Conference, the New York Horticultural Society and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, as well as many garden clubs.
In addition to lecturing, Pufahl’s work has been featured in Home & Garden Magazine, American Homestyle and Gardening, and as the cover story of the July/August 1998 issue of Horticulture Magazine. Martha Stewart Living TV produced a special 30-minute show exclusively on Beds & Borders, Inc. and Pufahl’s innovative designs.
Pauline Runkle - May 11 & 12
As owner of Floral Artistry in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., Pauline Runkle has spent her
lifetime helping people develop their creative potential through the experience of
gardening and flower arranging. Since 1973, Runkle has been lecturing and sharing her
design expertise throughout the United States. Her floral designs have been featured in
numerous magazines and publications including the Boston Herald, Better Homes
and Gardens, Garden Design Magazine, House Beautiful, and the Boston
Globe. Runkle has created floral designs for elaborate fundraisers at M.I.T. and
Harvard universities, and her work has also been featured in the windows of Tiffany and
Company. In 1991, Runkle’s floral designs were used for his Holiness the Dalai Lama
of Tibet when he addressed a live audience of 12,000 people at Cornell University. Runkle
participated in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts “Art-in-Bloom” festival for 11
consecutive years from 1982-1993. She has also worked with the Boston Pops, the Davis Art
Museum, and was the production assistant in the WGBH series, “A Small City in the
Garden,” which aired in 1972.
Runkle has received two distinguished awards from the American Horticultural Society. In 1992, she received the AmeriFlora Great American Gardener Award and in1993 she was the recipient of the Francis Jones Poetker Award for increasing public appreciation of creative floral design.
Nancilee Wydra - May 18 & 19
Founder of the Feng Shui Institute of America in Wabasso, Fla., Nancilee Wydra is known as
a Feng Shui Master. With degrees in both psychiatric social work and interior design,
Wydra has lectured and taught about the person and place connection for over 20 years, and
has specifically taught Feng Shui since 1974. A few of Wydra’s clients include Ralph
Lauren, Bath & Body Works and the DuPont family. She has lectured extensively across
the United States and has trained hundreds of Feng Shui professionals and Feng Shui
teachers in certified programs. The Feng Shui Certification Program is approved nationally
for American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).
Wydra’s first book, “Designing Your Happiness, A Contemporary Look at Feng Shui” (1995) sparked curiosity and has led to five additional books, including “Feng Shui in the Garden” (1996), “Feng Shui Goes To the Office” (2000) and “Growing a Room, a Parents Guide for Shaping Children’s Spaces” (2001). She has contributed to Cosmopolitan, Natural Health, Single Living, a Better Homes and Gardens do-it-yourself publication and the Chicago Tribune, and writes a monthly advice column for Rx's Living.
Wydra has appeared on the PBS special “Healthy Lifestyles,” “Interior Motives” on the Discovery Channel, “Real Life” on NBC daytime and “Breakfast TV” in Toronto, Canada. Wydra has also been heard on numerous radio stations across the county from the “Laura Lee Show” in Seattle, Wash., to WOCL and WCQS in Orlando, Fla.
Professor Tom Turpin - May 25 & 26
Tom Turpin is a professor of entomology at Purdue University in Indiana. In 1995, the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching chose Professor Turpin as the 1995
Indiana Professor of the Year. Referred to as the “P.T. Barnum of the
classroom,” Turpin is also known as an entertainer, trafficker in insects, showman,
cricket cook and chicken trainer.
Turpin is the co-founder of Purdue University’s annual Bug Bowl, now in its tenth year. During the Bug Bowl, visitors are able to taste food cooked with insects, visit an insect petting zoo and watch a cockroach race. In 1997, the cricket-spitting contest debuted and now is sanctioned by the Guinness Book of Records. The Bug Bowl is so popular that Turpin has convinced the Entomological Society of America to offer a similar event at every annual meeting it holds while grade schools are in session. In the event's first year it attracted 1,000 students.
Rick Mikula - June 1 & 2
Rick Mikula is a nationally recognized lecturer, author and entrepreneur. As owner of Hole
in Hand Butterfly Farm, Mikula is the pioneer of the “Butterfly Release
Wedding.” He also serves as a “habitat consultant” for museums, zoos,
aviaries and parks, such as Dolly Parton’s Butterfly Emporium. He has authored six
books, including “Garden Butterflies of North America” and “The Family
Butterfly Book,” and is a frequent contributor to the award-winning “Butterfly
Website.”
Mikula has appeared in numerous TV productions, on The Discovery Channel and Fox Network and has been featured on “The Garden Spot,” “Pennsylvania Outdoor Life” and “Kids Express.” Mikula has also done interviews for National Public Radio and several radio spots for stations throughout the United States. He has also been featured in a variety of magazines including People, Fitness, Country Music, Organic Gardening and Better Homes and Gardens.