Sam represents the Council and the overall Florida insurance community on the steering committee for Partners in Recovery, a disaster coalition consisting of the Florida Department of Financial Services, the state Division of Emergency Management and other government agencies and the insurance industry.

Sam was co-director of the Hurricane Insurance Information Center in Kendall in Dade County for 18 months following Hurricane Andrew in the early 1990’s. The center was a public affairs operation established by a national insurance industry coalition.

He came to the insurance industry from United Press International in 1988. He worked with UPI for 12 years, including one year as chief of the Tallahassee bureau. He also was a Tallahassee-based correspondent for The Tampa Tribune for four years.

Sam has a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. He is a Florida native and grew up in Daytona Beach. He is married to Linda Medlin and has a daughter, Lil, who is 19. His hobbies include rose gardening and model railroading. Sam is an officer with the Big Bend Model Railroad Association in Tallahassee.

Sam has done some free lance writing over the years, including a guidebook for the Old Capitol, published by the Historic Tallahassee Preservation Board.