Gene Plowden

Gene Plowden, one of the notable residents of 1630 Oak Street, was a journalist and author who wrote several books about the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Through his books and numerous articles for the Associated Press and United Press International, Plowden earned a reputation as a leading authority on the circus. His works include “Those Amazing Ringling and Their Circus”, “Gargantua”, “Singing Wheels and Circus Wagons”, and “Merle Evans, Maestro of the Circus”, a biography of the Ringling show’s longtime bandleader.

On his obituary, Evans commented that “He knew more about the circus and the Ringling than I did, and I worked for them.”

Plowden came to Florida in the 1920s to write for small newspapers in Sebring and Wauchula.  He work frequently brought him to Sarasota, where he reported on the activities at the Ringling circus winter quarters.  From 1932 to 1932, he was a reporter and sports editor at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.  It was during that period that Plowden’s lifelong love for the circus really developed, according to his widow Doris.  Mrs. Plowden recalled “His interest started when he met John Ringling.  Gene found him to a marvelous, flamboyant character, and he quickly got caught up in the circus atmosphere”.  He began to meet so many colorful and fascinating people, and he wanted to tell their stories.”

Plowden was a general assignment report for UPI from 1938 to 1941, working in Atlanta and Washington, DC, among other cities.  After serving in the Navy during World War II, he joined the Miami office of the AP, where he worked until his retirement in 1969.

The Plowdens moved to back Sarasota from Miami in 1978.  His last book was “Women of the Circus”, an account of not just the performers, but also the people that the public never saw.  The women who raised the children, sawed the costumes, and cooked the meals.