Episode notes: “The Mother and Father of Haulover”

Naked Age Ep. 7: Nudity and the constitution

Shirley Mason and members of South Florida Free Beaches in the 1983 King Mango Strut Parade

When I first created Naked Age in 2020, I had the Masons in mind for an interview. I just had this vision of them both sharing their story in separate interviews, which I could weave together, editing their dialogue so that they fill in gaps for each other. I did not yet know what their story entailed, but I knew enough to believe that they would have something compelling to share. What I could not yet know, and which I would eventually come to learn, was that their story is more than merely compelling, but truly important for people to hear.

"Naturists cannot be in the closet... They're going to have to speak up one way or the other if they want their rights."

- Shirley Mason, Naked Age Episode 7

I'd heard Shirley interviewed previously on the Naturist Living Show podcast, and knew of her involvement with the BEACHES Foundation through its president Martin Novoa, who I once interviewed for The New Nudist Podcast. Both of those interviews touched only lightly on her work—along with husband Richard Mason—to establish Haulover Beach as a legal nude beach in the summer of 1991.