Influential lobbyist, lawmaker’s father Ron Book has throat cancer
Ron Book of Plantation, one of Florida’s most influential lobbyists, has throat cancer and will start chemotherapy and radiation treatment next week.
His daughter, state Sen. Lauren Book, wrote Tuesday on Twitter that she was optimistic about her father’s cancer fight.
“Our journey through cancer survivorship starts today. Dad (‘Bapa’ as my kids say), you are the strongest person I know. Cancer may have started this fight, but WE are going to finish it. You’ve got this — and we’ve got you,” she wrote.
Book begins treatment next week at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, family spokeswoman Claire VanSusteren said.
“He’s very tenacious, and he’s got a family that loves him so, so much, and four grandkids that love their Bapa, and he’ll be just fine,” VanSusteren said, adding that, “it’s going to be a tough journey to wellness.”
Book, 69, had been experiencing symptoms for months and was finally diagnosed about two weeks ago.
Initially he thought the symptoms were caused by long COVID, the lingering effects many people feel after they’ve been infected with the coronavirus.
Book, who had been “super cautious” during COVID, according to VanSusteren, attended an event last year put on by the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust. He’s chairman of the organization, and its mission to help homeless people is a passion of Book’s.
Fully vaccinated and boosted, he attended a December Homeless Trust event and, he said via VanSusteren, he “let down his guard, and allowed hugs, got COVID.”
She said Book was extremely sick for 15 days in December, followed by lengthy continuing symptoms, including shortness of breath and brain fog.
During the course of consultations with physicians, they discovered a tumor in his neck that is pressing against his jugular vein and carotid artery.
Book’s law firm, which is dedicated exclusively to lobbying — it uses the term “government relations” — is one of the most successful in the state. It has offices in Aventura and Tallahassee.
He founded Ronald L. Book, PA, in 1987, and is currently president and CEO of the firm, which lobbies for prominent businesses, local governments, trade associations and nonprofits.
He’s known as one of the most effective lobbyists in the state Capitol, who has the ability to get things done on behalf of his clients.
For the 2022 legislative session, Book’s firm was registered to represent about 100 clients, including AT&T, AutoNation, credit agency Equifax, the Florida Apartment Association, Florida Power Light Co., media company Gannett, the GEO Group private prison company, Hard Rock Stadium and the University of Miami.
Among its 30 clients that are government agencies are Broward County government; the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Miami Beach; Miami-Dade Public Schools; North Broward Hospital District (better known by its brand name, Broward Health) and the South Broward Hospital District (better known by its brand name Memorial Healthcare).
Required lobbyist compensation reports for the first three months of 2022, including the annual legislative session, aren’t yet due and Book’s firm hasn’t filed.
The Florida Politics website’s review of filings from the fourth quarter of 2021 show that firm brought in $2.7 million — fourth-highest in the state — but accounting for its three-person team “it consistently feature[s] the highest per-lobbyist earnings in the state.”
His daughter Lauren Book was elected to the Florida Senate in 2016. Her colleagues elected her to serve as the leader of the Senate Democrats.