John Dewey was a world renowned philosopher and educator, arguably one of themost influential men in America’s educational system.  Dewey founded the idea ofprogressive education and knew that a strong country, and a strong democracy, had tobe founded in the education of its students.  Dewey taught at the University ofMichigan, Columbia University and helped to found the philosophy department atthe University of Chicago. Dewey first travelled to Key West in January 1938, when he was a spry 79 yearsold, with his son and daughter.  He knew little of the island at the time, but had headed south for the weather.  When Dewey came to Key West, the island was inthe midst of the Great Depression and was little more than a poor fishingvillage.  The cigar empire had left Key West over a decade ago and in a riches to ragsstory was now one of the poorest cities in the state.Dewey lived in a few homes around Key West, the first being on Greene St acrossfrom Sloppy Joes, which his daughter ended up purchasing for a mere $900.  Thelast home he lived in, at 504 South St, belonged to his wife, Roberta.  She purchasedthe beach home on May 29th 1944.  Dewey was possibly one of the first snowbirds,arriving in Key West from his home in New York city every year, from January toApril, simply to break  free from the big city. Although his work habits suffered greatly from his usual productivity in the big city, he was ableto write four works during his stays in his winter paradise.  Dewey said “The mananamood develops very easily here.”  He would often write letters saying that theclimate and laid-back attitude was easy to accept and hard to ignore.  WhileDewey wasn't as productive as he might have liked to be, he often justified itby saying he’s on a lazy vacation anyway.  “The climate here is too relaxing tobe conductive to work.” Dewey frequented the beaches, watching the fishermen bring in their dailycatch, punctuated by sunbathing and sitting on his porch to write.  He enjoyed the ability tosimply be here and write, without anyone bothering him.  This gave him time toreflect, think and craft some of his best known works.  For most of his time inKey West he was into his 80s, so the healing properties of the good weather andrelaxed attitude definitely played a part in his active lifestyle.