pp. 1-5: Griffin discusses his childhood, parents' background, and growing up in Tiger Bay and Frostproof, Florida--the sandhill country. He wonders if there will be a Ben Hill Griffin V through one of his grandsons. Griffin's father had owned several small citrus groves and then other family members bought more adjoining land together. He talks about today's scientific approach to growing citrus crops versus what his father knew about citrus cultivation. Griffin brings up the historic Great Freeze of 1894-1895, which devastated the northern groves in Florida--but not those in Frostproof--and that is how Frostproof received its name. He reminisces about Frostproof in the 1920s, the family chores, and going to school in Fort Meade and Frostproof.

pp. 5-10: The Florida Land Boom in the 1920s did not affect Frostproof, according to Griffin. After graduating from high school in 1930, he says he headed directly to the University of Florida in Gainesville because he liked football. Money was tight at that time, he says, due to the Great Depression. He recalls Florida being hit by a depression even earlier than the rest of the country because of the collapse of the land boom. But he adds that attending UF was relatively cheap and he worked part-time. He joined Pi Kappa Phi and decades later became a PKP Hall of Famer. He mentions place names in Gainesville and also faculty members and buildings on campus in 1930. He recollects one particular building which housed the School of Agriculture, Floyd Hall, to which he would donate millions of dollars to restore a half century later.

pp. 10-14: To earn money while attending UF, Griffin says he ran the dining facilities at a fraternity. He relates an incident about getting bitten by a dog during his collegiate years. He discusses John Tigert as the president of UF during the years he attended and the enrollment at that time of being 3,000 students. The year he entered UF in 1930 was the year that Florida Field was inaugurated. Griffin talks about leaving UF after three years, rather than graduating. He recalls that the social life was not on the UF campus but in Tallahassee at the women's college. During the 1930s, Gainesville was "dry," and Griffin remembers the nearest liquor store being located between Gainesville and Ocala, later called "Ruby's."

pp. 14-17: Concerning why he did not graduate, Griffin says that he had about all the courses he wanted, especially in marketing, so he felt he did not need additional classes. He returned to Frostproof and worked in a citrus packing house--which he later bought. He remembers his beginning pay at 15 cents an hour. His first paycheck was for $25.25 for 101 hours that week. He moved up the ladder to a white collar position as a checker. The year he left UF, he got married. His father's wedding present was a 10-acre citrus grove. He says his next job was working for a Jacksonville firm, the Naco Fertilizer Company. He sold fertilizer for Naco to grovemen and farmers in the Frostproof area. He still tended his family grove, which was beginning to produce about 3,000 boxes; he kept adding on to the acreage.

pp. 17-19: In 1944, Griffin organized the Griffin Citrus Services Company, which was a grove caretaking operation; he also sold fertilizer and insecticide. A few years earlier, he recalls, he became involved in the cattle industry. And by the time of Pearl Harbor, he had four children but was considered too old at 31 to join the military. The late 1940s was the time, he says, when he "started to move" his citrus and cattle businesses, especially after buying a fresh fruit packing house in Avon Park. He bought on credit. He began shipping all over the United States, but did not get into overseas shipping until much later.

pp. 19-22: Griffin goes into his involvement with the concentrate business in 1948. He bought a concentrate business from Minute Maid for $1 million. He discusses the frozen concentrate revolutionizing the citrus industry, saying, "It turned it upside down and shook it." He also bought a plant in Bartow and turned it into a sectionizing plant. His product names included Sun Sip, Silvernip, and Silver Slice. In 1958, Griffin went full steam into the concentrate business and created a new brand, Citrus Hill. Then he sold a plant to Procter & Gamble in 1981. Griffin maintains he is still in the citrus business with almost 20,000 acres. His cattle ranches are located in Hardee, Highalnds, and De Soto counties. He says he wishes he was into dairy cattle, but now he maintains only commercial beef ranches.

pp. 22-24: Griffin's banking interests then come into the conversation. He had owned two banks in Bartow and Avon Park, but he sold them. But he continues to remain on the board of three banks, including Sun Bank. Besides citrus, banking, and cattle ranching, Griffin talks about jumping into ownership of a country club in Lake Wales. Then Griffin became involved in the aviation business by purchasing a small company in Avon Park. He talks about flying all over the state and especially enjoys getting back home to Central Florida after a Gator football game when the crowds are still in the stadium.

pp. 24-25: Griffin focuses on the money he has given to the University of Florida over the years, including a training center for the football team and more money to expand the facility. Adding on to his list of business ventures, he describes his timber and real estate enterprises.

pp. 25-32: Griffin then recounts his political career, which began in the mid-1950s in the Florida House, running for an unexpired term and then for a full term. He gives vent to the way reapportionment was handled in the late 1960s. He served in the House from 1956 to 1963, and then in the Florida Senate, 1964-1968. While in the House, Griffin speaks about serving on the Agriculture, Education, Appropriations, Finance, and Taxation committees. He shares his feelings about all the governors under whom he served. But in 1974, he decided to take a crack at running for gubernatorial office himself and campaigned against Reubin Askew who was running for a second term. Griffin discusses his platform of doing away with the lieutenant governor position. He campaigned with his wife running for that position, and said, if elected, he would do away with her job. He supported the corporate tax, even though he was in business. But he claims he got into the race too late. He came in a distant second to Askew.

pp. 32-33: The subject of a state income tax comes into the interview, and Griffin would not be opposed to it, stating that he would rather pay his "taxes to the state than to the federal government." Since his defeat in 1974, Griffin has not been involved in politics and does not plan to run for any future office, especially on the local level.

pp. 33-35: Griffin then dwells on his businesses--how many employees and who runs them. He says he still likes to be in control even though several other family members help run the operations. He accounts for his rise, beginning in 1933, to becoming one of Florida's giants in business by taking advantage of opportunities, operating in an honest, forthright manner, paying his bills, and treating everybody fairly. If he had a philosophy in life, he says it would be that his word is his bond.

pp. 35-37: Griffin brings up some of his other donations to educational institutions, including the chapel at Florida Presbyterian (now Eckerd College), several junior colleges, and Jacksonville University. But the University of Florida has been the main focus of his donations, particularly in athletics, scholarships, and the Experiment Station at Lake Alford for agricultural research. He credits UF for his marketing skills. He says he worked closely with UF Presidents Marston and Criser, even if he did not always agree with them. He feels that the state of Florida has too many universities.

pp. 37-39: When asked about the future of society, Griffin replies that he is "an eternal optimist," but does not feel that he has a "real grasp" on today's science and technology. He enjoys making donations to certain groups. Griffin especially values the satisfaction of scholarship donations and having students write to him. He says it is a very gratifying reward. He also wishes that these students know he is the one behind these scholarships; he does not want to play a hidden role. He likes to experience the results of his donations, for example, seeing Floyd Hall renovated.

pp. 39-41: Griffin feels that he has accumulated a lot of knowledge during the past half century, and loves to impart this knowledge to the younger generation. But he also feels that he should not waste his breath if people will not listen to him. He hopes to be around for a long time and remain active.