IN THE SPOTLTIGHT: Mark Horan
From tennis court to animal habitat
Mark Horan’s path to conservation work in Boca Grande and Cape Haze began long before he ever paddled out to collect water samples or walked the edges of a burrowing owl colony. His roots stretch back to rural Vermont, where he grew up on his parents’ cattle farm and spent his childhood surrounded by wide-open landscapes and animals that needed tending.
“In Vermont, I always wondered what it’d be like to be in a city,” he said. “Looking back at it now, it really was a wonderful place to grow up. Lots of nature, and that definitely started my interest in animals and conservation.”
His parents raised sheep for a time, so alongside chasing the occasional wandering cow, Horan learned to shear sheep. But his most cherished memories are of simpler days with his father, fishing in small brooks near their home.
“He would actually just go cut a stick, tie a line to the end of the stick and put a hook and worm on it,” Horan recalled. “I think that was my fondest memory. Just my father and I spending time in the little brooks catching trout.”
Horan earned degrees in English and psychology from Hartwick College, inspired by his father’s love of reading. After a brief stint working for a bank in New York City, he quickly felt the pull of the outdoors again. That pull, and a beloved grandmother, eventually brought him to Boca Grande.
Horan’s grandmother, Nancy Claflin, was his best friend and later the best man in his wedding. During a visit with her on the island, he met Jinx Howe, who ran the tennis program at The Gasparilla Inn. “I thought she was pretty cute,” he admitted with a laugh. “So I had to brush up on my tennis game pretty quickly.”
The two later married and raised their sons in Boca Grande from fall through spring, spending summers in Nantucket.
For the last several decades, Mark worked alongside Jinx at The Gasparilla Inn’s tennis program. Jinx, whose tenure there spans nearly 40 years, served as director – “the brains of the operation,” according to Mark – while he taught lessons and maintained the courts.
Being able to raise their boys in Boca Grande is something he deeply appreciates. “It reminds me a little bit of growing up in Vermont, small community, a lot of independence for kids,” he said. “You know, you feel safe in the community.” He taught his sons to fish the way his father taught him, and today his son Alex is an avid fly-fisherman who now catches tarpon on flies.
When The Island School was founded in 2000, Jinx was one of several parents who helped bring the idea to the Lee County School Board, while Mark served on the school board for several years. Horan credits Bayard Sharp’s commitment to young families for making it possible for so many seasonal and full-time residents to build their lives here.
After retiring from The Inn in 2022, Horan wanted to give back in a way that aligned with his lifelong love of wildlife and the outdoors. The Lemon Bay Conservancy (LBC), whose work includes water quality monitoring, land preservation, tarpon research and habitat protection quickly stood out.
He began as a volunteer helping with storm-related cleanup. “And so I started helping with different areas,” he said. “Not just cleaning up, but taking water samples, for instance, which has been interesting. This involves getting in a kayak, paddling out, taking a sample – but usually two people are in the kayak, and one is looking out for gators, so the speed of water sampling sometimes comes very quickly.”
Today, Horan serves on the LBC Board of Directors and plays an active role in its Burrowing Owl Initiative, a project that supports a small colony of state-threatened Florida burrowing owls on the Cape Haze Peninsula. Just off the island, volunteers have been mapping burrows, monitoring adult owls and owlets and installing protective measures as surrounding development increases. The Conservancy has also begun acquiring nearby lots to preserve long-term habitat, an effort already boosted by several early contributors, including a recent gift from the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association.
This project resonates with Mark on a personal level. His grandmother Nancy was an avid birder, especially drawn to owls and hawks. “Anytime I drove in a car with her, more often than not she would slam on the brakes in the middle of the road to point out an owl or hawk,” he said. “Honestly, I’m lucky to be here, with a little old lady slamming on the brakes like that on I-75.”
That early exposure to birds, coupled with his grandmother’s love of the creatures, makes his current work feel “a little full circle,” he said. Another layer of serendipity: the 2006 movie “Hoot,” partially filmed in Boca Grande, was about a group of young children trying to protect a burrowing owl habitat from destruction – and Horan’s son, Alex, appeared in the film.
Protecting these small, charismatic owls feels like an extension of Horan’s lifelong connection to nature and the people who nurtured it in him.
“My grandmother would have loved this,” he said.
If you’re interested in volunteering or considering major support, email Mark Horan to arrange a private visit to the owl colony site: Email him at markehoran@gmail.com
