Page 76 - LIN_December 2022

JEFF LYTLE

Community Mourns Loss

of Regional Icons

“Welcome back” to our seasonal residents and readers.
While you have been gone, a lot has changed. While Hurricane Ian is responsible for much of that,
a change to our civic and cultural landscape is due to the passing of five iconic leaders.
Each made a lasting mark on our community.
It is striking that three of the five outstanding stewards cast long shadows in the arts.

MYRA JANCO DANIELS

Myra Janco Daniels, 96, was the dynamic founding force behind today’s Artis—Naples, originally
known as the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts. Her roots in Chicago taught her what top-
caliber performing and visual arts can be, and she taught the Naples area that those endeavors have
to be run like a business—it is not sufficient to have just a dream. When she launched the notion of
The Phil in the 1980s, with volunteer musicians playing in school auditoriums and big tents, her
motto was: “Let us entertain you for the rest of your lives.” She delivered. And she kept going beyond
the philharmonic, embracing projects at Ave Maria University and Naples’ Salvation Army.

FRANK MANN

Frank Mann, 80, was a lifelong Lee Countian whose family impact on the arts reached far and wide.
He was the son of Barbara B. Mann, a Fort Myers arts matron. Fun fact: She was handed her high school
diploma by Thomas Edison. Frank rose to the Florida Legislature, where he secured initial funding
for the performing arts center that bears her name, and enriches the community of theatergoers from
Marco Island to Sarasota. Mann, who enjoyed a hearty laugh as much as building a constituency for
a public project, later offered his good name to bolster public confidence and integrity on the Lee
County Commission in 1993. He fought the good fight for the environment and growth management,
often alone, until his passing in June.

ALAN KOREST

Naples in June mourned another passing. Alan Korest, 92, was a multi-tasker from elected office in
the City of Naples and a serial philanthropist. He won friends and influenced people with his fun-
damental, unwavering good cheer and often self-deprecating humor. A stranger would never know
of his family wealth, which he cherished being able to share in so many ways. He and his late wife
Marilyn completed the Bower Chapel, started by her father, Ed Bower, at the original Moorings Park.
The couple also endowed the Bower School of Music and the Arts at FGCU and boosted Champions
for Learning, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the Collier Community Foundation, and the David
Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health. His accolades included the Naples Daily News Outstanding
Citizen Award, a surprise that greeted him after narrowly escaping Libya on the eve of its revolution.
His passion for world travel was shared by Dolly Bodick. They were married in 2017; she survives him.

76 Life in Naples December 2022