David Pearson grew up in Miami where his father was the city’s first anesthesiologist. His youthful days were spent playing baseball, fishing in the Keys, and attending parochial schools.
Following three years in the Coast Guard during the Korean War, he attended Emory University on the GI Bill, graduating with a degree in History. The following years saw him in a number of different places and jobs: from teaching school in Havana, to covering Civil Rights in Alabama, to becoming the first Vice President for Public Relations in the new resort community of
Sea Pines Plantation, in South Carolina.
From there he spent two years in Washington under Sargent Shriver at the Peace Corps, followed by helping former Florida Governor LeRoy Collins start up the new U. S. Community Relations Service.
His next move took him and his family to Atlanta, where he handled the PR accounts of the Atlanta Braves and RC Cola. He began his firm in Miami with Laurance Rockefeller’s Caribbean resorts as his first clients.
From there and for the next 50 years he has carried out his public relations career with the eponymous David Pearson Associates.
Running parallel to his public relations firm’s services to its resort clients, Pearson provided counsel to former U. S. Senator Bob Graham in both his races for Florida Governor and for the Senate.
During this time his clients ranged from the Pacific (Hualalai) to Mexico (Punta Mita) to Costa Rica (Reserva Conchal) to Puerto Rico (St. Regis Bahia Beach) to Curacao (Santa Barbara Plantation) to Barbados (Royal Westmoreland) and on coast to coast in the U. S. Some notable American clients were Vintage Club, Silverado, Desert Mountain, Cheeca Lodge, Fisher Island, Deering Bay, Arvida resorts, Amelia Island, Seabrook Island and Hound Ears.
During these years Pearson performed thousands of hours of pro bono service, primarily in the conservation of Florida’s natural resources.
David and his wife Anne (and Molly the Cavalier) live in Coral Gables, Florida.