GUEST WRITER: PHILIP BURTON, PG. 25 • FRANK KAISER, PG. 47 GEORGE MURPHY INTERVIEWS GEORGE HALLORAN, PG. 69 \rW)fr\ JAM. *- d Page 2 — March 1987 — Solares Hill NATURAL FOOTPRlNJT SANDALS Don't Head North Without Them! ...footprints 610 Duval Street Old Town Where the Locals meet! Quality is our highest regard. BREAKFAST & LUNCH 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. SATURDAY BRUNCH 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. SUNDAY BRUNCH 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Closed Thursdays 7031/2 DUVAL STREET 296-4811 FROM THE EDITOR Hello. My friend Arthur, who has no use for the Reagan presidency, passed by my breakfast table the morning of the Tower Report and said he thought it was a "whitewash." I hadn't read the excerpts yet from the newspaper but felt that he was over-reacting. Now I'm beginning to wonder. Most people, by now, realize that the initial scheme was to barter weaponry for a handful of prisoners. President Reagan as much as called then-president Carter a wimp for not being able to bring home the hostages then held in Iran, Facing a similar dilemma in his administration, Reagan was committed to freeing the current hostages. The Tower Report spoke of his compassion for the hostages and earlier packaged administration disinformation spoke of opening doors to moderate leaders in Iran but no real mention has been made of what I can only presume was a burning desire to show up Carter and bring home these hostages. In the February 28 editorial page of The Miami Herald, columnist Sandy Grady wrote: "Even friend John Tower painted Reagan as an uninformed, forgetful, passive chief a man out to lunch -- 'a little too aloof said Tower. More painful was Don Regan's quote about the Iran deal: " The President was told but by no means was it teed up for him what the downside risk would be as far as the American public' "In blunt words, the President was too dumb to figure by himself that Americans would howl when they found he'd run guns to the country they despise." Whether the President was "too dumb" or too driven to care about the consequences of his actions is moot. What happened was that when he finally had a coterie of advisors who "yessed" him, the weapons-for-hostages plan was put into effect. Brushing aside the obvious that this action caused a bull-market in hostage taking - this has certainly been widely reported and has, indeed, taken place -- I'm bemused by the lack of attention paid to what these actions might have wrought militarily. The great Iranian and Iraqi stalemate (odious as this war is, it is to our advantage that in the absence of peace at least Iran remains stalled) appeared to be broken with a major territory-gaining offensive by Iran in which it is believed that at least 10% of Iraqi airpower was destroyed and was presumably destroyed by the timely arrival and use of our weaponry! If this tipping of the balance of power toward Iran permits them a victory in Iraq, there is little to stop a forward surge of Moslem fundamentalism from sweeping across the Middle East and totally upsetting the tenuous balance of power there. Maybe if this occurs it will really be all for the good - I don't know; I doubt it — but my point is that these shipments of weapons may have caused immense changes in the most volatile region of an unstable world. AND ALL THIS, TO FREE A FEW HOSTAGES, HAS ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING! Con'tonpg. 7 Our cover artist this month is Jean L. Lebrun. The translation of the French is: And it was adorable when the big bosomed, ardent-eyed girl, - that one, it's not a kiss which frightens her! - smiling brought me toast with butter, warm ham, in a colorful dish! He will have a show at Lucky St. Gallery on Duval Street opening the 18th of March. Solares Hill is a community newspaper published every month on the slopes of Solares Hill, Key West's highest point, by Solares Hill Company, #4 Key Lime Square, Key West, Florida 33040 Editor ;.. Bill Huckcl Editorial Consultant Bill Weslray Art Direction , Walt Hyla Staff Photographer Richard Walherwax Typeset by Apple Laser Writer With a little help from our friends.... Solares Hill Company, Incorporated ©Solares Hill Inc. 1986 Our mailing address: #4 Key Lime Square Key West, Florida 33040 Phone Number 294-3602 In Marathon call 872-2915 THIS IS OUR SUBSCRIPTION FORM Save your cover! Send us a postcard with your subscription. Here is $15.00 for my n r i subscription to 11 issues of |SJ3| SOLARES HILL. fea NAM? ADDRESS CITY . STATE ZIP THANK YOU Lighting Candles: Fred Shaw by Carol Shaughnessy • Fred Shaw cares. He cares about his family, his strong commitment to his religion, and the students — teenage and adult — with whom he comes in contact. And he cares about Key West. In fact, Fred Shaw is seriously concerned about the future of the island and the balance between the black and white communities here. He's a serious man, introspective, given to thinking out every side of a question before answering it. He doesn't laugh much — but then, there wasn't much for a black kid growing up in North Carolina in the forties and fifties to laugh about. "I was born November 14, 1940 ... spent most of my (early) life in Fayetteville. We didn't have an awful lot, so we made do with what we had," Fred recalls. "As a youngster I played Little League football and baseball ... I loved dancing, social dancing." Fred discovered at a young age that life wasn't going to be all dancing. "I ... attended a segregated school ... quite an experience in North Carolina. I heard the words 'Jim Crow' very early in life. It was very, very hard racially. That time, I suppose, had a lot to do with my developing a lack of self worth. It affected me a great deal. And just recently — I suspect in the last maybe four or five years — have I been outgrowing vestiges of that kind of conditioning." Some people would have allowed such conditioning to drive them down, but it just made Fred Shaw all the more determined to Fred Shaw rise above it. He graduated from high school and went on to get his Bachelor's Degree at Fayetteville State University. "I was not ... brilliant intellectually; I'm extremely tenacious. I think it was a matter of my envisioning a goal that I wanted, of application and discipline and the fact that Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 3 once I realized what I wanted out of life, I would not allow ... lack of preparation to stop me. I was going to materialize my goals in spite of the odds." Fred's degree was in education and his first job out of college was teaching fifth grade in a small town in Georgia. Later came the service, which brought him to Key West. In 1969 Fred Shaw arrived here to serve his last few months in the Army. When his term was up he stayed, somewhat to his surprise. "I had no idea that I'd ever end up in Florida," Fred says, shaking his head. "My ideal area for living, I suppose, would have been the New, England states, the northeast — never Florida. Because of my experiences in North Carolina, I was a little bit turned off by the south at the time. "I had, like everyone else, expected Key West to be a ... small spot hanging off the United States, but ... to my amazement it was much larger and cosmopolitan; By then I had traveled quite a bit, and I realized that I could find a lot of the cosmopolitan lifestyle that I'd experienced in other places right here in Key West. And I later realized that Key West is probably one of the most forgiving cities that I've ever lived in. It allows one to live one's lifestyle, regardless of what that... may be." After doing some substitute teaching at the school that is now Glynn* Archer, he took a job with the government as an education advisor for the military. A short stint spent in Pittsburgh getting his Masters Degree only confirmed Fred's liking for Key West. Announcing . . . a shipping center for you! Packy the Shipper Packing & Shipping Center Bring your out-of-town packages to our conven- ient location. We ship any package for you, one professionally packed by us or one you have packed. Your package is delivered in 3 DAYS OR LESS any- where in-the country. Your package is insured for safe delivery (1st $100 valuation) at NO CHARGE. Pro Photo 335 Duval Street - Duval Walk 294-9331 p of Key West, Inc. "The Real Estate Company for Key West." SALES & MANAGEMENT SEASONAL & YEARLY RENTALS DONALD CMATHIEU Licensed Real Estate Broker IB OPEN SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS (305)294-3600,296-7766 P.O. BOX 1737 • 400 SMONTON STREET KEY WEST, FLORIDA 33041 Page 4 — March 1987 — Solares HiU Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 5 917 Simonton St. 294-3002 We are constantly told that we are the finest store in Key West. Come see why . . . Outstanding Works of Art from the Orient for serious collectors and decorators, too. 310 Duvai-Key West 294-2136 "Much to my surprise, even though I had several offers (from the Pittsburgh area) after finishing grad school, I also received some offers from Key West... and all of a sudden I had a decision to make: do you really have sand in your shoes and do you return to Key West, or do you stay in Pittsburgh where you are closest to the northeast where you've always dreamed of living? And I guess it's obvious; I made the decision to return to Key West." Fred worked at the May Sands School on United Street until asked to be an assistant principal at Key West High School in 1972 — a time of racial reorganization on the island. The offer caused him much soul-searching. "I was torn with not wanting to be a ... segmented assistant principal; I had been subjected to partial, segregated education. I was ... concerned with being an assistant principal for all of the students at Key West High School. My expectations for the black students were the same as my expectations for the white students," Fred emphasizes. "And I wanted them to perceive me the same way. I insisted they perceive me the same way." Fred relaxes a bit. "I think it went well. At the time (the principal) was Kerry Highsmith, one of the nicest and most open persons that you could work with. We sort of struggled through, and fortunately we made it through the early and middle seventies. Extremely tough time. I think at that time, the change and the stress and the turmoil that went on were necessary. It was not meant to be a smooth racial transition; it vvas rheahti "fo":b'fr "a "turbulerrt - time.'-- -Aftd-f - think the greatest contribution that we made at that time was that we stabilized the situation." It was during Fred's early years at Key West High School that his daughter, 1 JoAnna, was born. He had met his wife, Joyce, in college, and been sure from the moment he saw her that she was the woman he would marry. Fred and Joyce greatly enjoy traveling during his summer breaks from his profession. The summer break also gives Fred time to indulge his great passion, that of restoring vintage automobiles. "I love to collect and restore antique automobiles.. I think my first one that I did was an XK Jaguar. Dr. Hayes in town was nice enough to sell it to me. It came out very well. Since then I've done everything from Jags to Mercedes to Mustangs, Corvettes and the like." He generally sells the cars after they're restored, but keeps an album of them to remind himself of the work he's done. Cars, however, are not the only things Fred likes to renovate. "I suspect I'm also a frustrated architect, because I enjoy doing houses too, even though they're a bit more expensive. One of the places we did when we first moved here — the first project we took on — was a little store located on the corner of Petronia and Simonton. It is now called Aunt Lolly's." He's currently on the lookout for another restoration project. If the opportunity ever presents itself,; Fred says he'll return to school for his architect's degree. He is an insatiable student — more-s0 >nô t-fKMV whe-fv-fre-%as- ALL THE TIME HUNDREDS OF TITLES AVAILABLE AT 500 RENTAL - VCR RENTALS - FREE MEMBERSHIP - BEST SELECTION BEST PRICE - BEST OF ALL, NO GIMMICKS WE'RE NOT CRAZY-, WE'RE REASONABLE 10AM-11 PM FRI.-SAT. 10 AM-MIDNIGHT - UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT in college. And this compulsion to learn, this drive to be the best Fred Shaw he can possibly be, has kept him a busy man through the years. Now director of the Adult Education program for Monroe County as well as administrative assistant to the high school principal, he is also on the Board of Trustees for the Community College, serves with the Neighborhood Improvement Council and the Planning and Restoration Commission for the city, is an ex-member of the MARC Board, and is on the Board of Trustees for his church. Fred Shaw is a man not satisfied unless he gives at least 120% of himself to everything he gets involved in. "It may have something to do with that old conditioning thing," he admits. "I'm not always perfect, but I suppose deep down I must be a perfectionist." He sees, however, the pitfalls of spreading himself too thin. "I would prefer to do a few things very well, so I have to remind myself to back off sometimes." What does a perfectionist do to relax? If he s Fred Shaw, he plays tennis. And in Key West, he can play tennis all year around. "I like from November to April," he says slowly, savoring each word and smiling. "I think Key West is probably the Garden of Eden during that period of time. 1 m always reminded of this on the tennis courts when the tourists come down during that time of year, and they always remark about how fortunate we are to be here, then I too realize that we are fortunate to be here, to have a climate that allows us to do a YOU ARE INVITED TO CEREMONIES AND CELEBRATIONS HONORING THE OPENING OF THE TRUMAN ANNEX PRESIDENTIAL GATES TO ALL THE CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF KEY WEST AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA 11:30 AM, Tuesday, March 31, 1987 At The Gates, Whitehead & Caroline Streets A KEY WEST DAY TO REMEMBER Solares HiU — March 1987 — Page 7 Page 6 — March 1987 — Solares Hill HELP -rwe COHTRAS. .. " Although enthusiastic about Key West and the opportunities living here has offered him, Fred is deeply concerned about the future of the island — and especially the island's blacks. He recalls speaking to a class about Dr. Martin Luther King's greatest contribution to the cause of equal opportunity, that of widening the choices open to blacks. Economic and social pressures, however, are narrowing those choices once again. "I think the thing that discourages me "most about black advancement is when I look around me," Fred states earnestly, leaning forward to make sure his point is understood. "Over the last ten or fifteen years that I've been associated with Key West, I've seen two black lawyers. When I look on Duyal Street, I see no black merchants. I see others coming into this community from other countries and becoming a part of the main economic stream — but the once-healthy black economy, which is Petronia Street, is a sick economy. I don't see us being a part. "There are blacks serving on a lot of the boards in this town. We have one elected black official ... on the Utility Board. The rest are appointed in positions that pay nothing. Not that I'm saying that that should be your objective, but certainly if you're worthy to serve in some of the non-paying positions, you're worthy of serving in some of the paid positions." Fred wonders if the black community has simply relaxed too much after the big struggles of the 1970's. "I think we got to a point in the seventies where we felt that... it was going to be all right. And yet, just like the Reconstruction, we're now experiencing a reversal in some of the gains that had taken place. There's a lot of hopelessness, a lot of despair. "I think we are still evolving into the kind of a community that we will ultimately become. We are not there yet," he states intently, with a strong emphasis on the word "there." "We should be further along." Fred speaks of Daniel in the movie The Karate Kid, who was taught that life must have an inner balance. Unfortunately, he says, in Key West there is no such balance between black and white ... and he wonders if the traditional - methods of problem- solving can be successfully applied here — or to today's other problems. - "I'm wondering if rather than doing things better, maybe we should be doing better things. In other words, (instead of) the old solutions that we've used to solve the problems, maybe we should be using different solutions now. Rather than cursing the darkness, we should be lighting candles ..." It's people like Fred Shaw — concerned, intelligent people dedicated to their work and their community — who are helping Key West find the balance that is so necessary. Thanks to Fred Shaw, more than a few candles are being lit here on the island. WELL KNOWN SUNSET JEWELER Ulaudz Ouss&L NOW SHOWING AT FAMILYJEWELS 513 DUVALSTREET CONCH COIN CO. ACROSS FROM KINO PLAZA ON FITZPATRICK MEL FISHER'S TREASURE SALVORS, INC. GREEN & WHITEHEAD LATELY I'VE SEEM \ +hVlM6-TTi^FAN1?&Y ^V&vdjnJb 3'??- PROFESSIONAL OFFICES AVAILABLE For LEASE A very special property has now become available in Key West, across from the Monroe County Courthouse and the US Post Office, at 501 Whitehead Street (US 1, Mile Marker Zero). This Classic Key West Commercial Structure has just undergone a thorough National Register Certified Historic Rehabilitation. Leases are available for the 1,250 square foot Upper Suite as well as the 1,150 square foot Ground Level Suite , . .both have 3 offices and reception area. They can be combined, if needed. • • . . . . . The rehabilitation included all new plumbing and electric, a HVAC system that exceeds Florida Energy Code Standards, prewiring for TV, Phone and Intercom. Limited parking also available. Quality has been built in . . . the property needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. Realtor participation is invited and a finder's fee will be paid. The property is owner-managed, and can be viewed by appointment only. Contact Paul Mikoiay.at (305) 294-5343. K KITE COMPAN¥ IMG. T Functional Flyers Decorative Windsocks " S t u n t K i t e s 1 " ' " ">'••" Innovative Designs HEAVENLY BODY KITES 409 GREENE AIRWAVES / 211-1 DUVAL STREET (305) 296-2535 Con't from pg. 2 Perhaps my twin perceptions about Reagan needing to show up Carter and the upsetting of the balance of power in the Middle East are completely off the mark. But even if I'm wrong on this, enough evidence of spacey, out-to-lunch leadership has been shown that there is a serious question of Reagan's competence. Is it an impertinence to wonder if there should be a competency test administered every few years to an incumbent president? Is our system too shakey to handle this? Are we ultimately too royal in protecting our leaders' prerogatives? It really looks as though this emperor has no clothes, and I find it profoundly disturbing. Without being judgemental about Reagan's presidency up to the Iran scandal, there is no denying that the recent grotesque doings dwarf Watergate and show us a President out of control. Do we permit this change of presidential advisors to lull us into believing all is well or do we wonder at the Tower Report for not being aghast at the President's actions and for suggesting that changing advisors might make things alright? Arthur, I think you were correct. Now, back to where I belong; I was pleased when acting Police Chief Vince Catala made some new appointments in the Key West police department. I was particularly pleased to read that George Lastres was made head of detectives — he's a good man. But all is not mellow in the police department. A few weeks ago a series of incredibly stupid raids were launched against people drinking in public. The beach and sunset crowds were treated to a spectacle of visitors and residents alike being handcuffed and taken to headquarters , to be booked. Man, talk about unnecessary police action. Unfortunately, there has been a historical antipathy toward the tourist from our local police and it hasn't gone away. This was a senseless overreaction by the police and many members of the community have voiced their objections. There are more important actions the police can involve themselves in. We lost two fine Key West men recently. Dr. Frank Bowser, a fine doctor, a distinguished painter, the father of a legendary group of girls, and the husband of the great "Izzie" died at his residence a few weeks ago. Then, in Bradenton, Florida, Roland Barker, a sea captain who had graced our shores for years, a gentleman of the old school whose tales of sailing around the Cape in the early years of this century thrilled many a Key Wester, and also an accomplished artist, passed away. Both of these men were written about in Solares Hill and both men met the highest standards of life. We will miss them. See you next month. in crowded areas. P.P.S. We were wrong when we wrote last month that incoming Police Chief Webster would be the first non-Conch to hold that job. There have been others. P.S. Maybe the police could pay more attention to the dangerous practice of people riding their bikes on our sidewalks downtown. Bikes should stick to the streets #6 CHARLES ST. at DUVAL (Around ibe Comer from Rick's) EAT IN • CARRY OUT 296-2440 COME TASTE THE BARBEQUE THAT'S MADE TEXAS FAMOUS "Maybe the very BEST of Texas' best" Dallas Times Herald "Jimmy's, the Crown Prince of Barbeque" Atlanta Gazette Our select cuts of meat are all slow smoked over real Hickory wood with a barbeque sauce extraordinaire ... "like you've never tasted before." - - Jim my Page 8 — March 1987 — Solares Hill Solares Hill - March 1987 — Page 9 Enjoy a sailing adventure aboard U.S. Goast Guard inspected Schooner Racftael ML Ehenezer COME ABOARD AT LANDS END MARINA FOR A CRUISE YOU'LL LONG REMEMBER. SAIL ON THIS 65' MAINE COASTING SCHOONER. JOIN THE CREW ON DECK . . . TAKE A SPELL AT THE WHEEL . . . OR JUST RELAX UNDER THE SUN. 'Day Sail: 12:00 Noon to 3:00 P.M. Sunset Cruise: 5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Day Sail-$20...Sunset Cruise-$25...Senior Citizens-20% Off...Children half price. Bring your own lunch or pick up a box iunch from the RAW BAR right ai the waterfront. Coffee, tea or soft drinks on board. Sunset Cruise - wine & cheese The Rachael & Ebenezer is available for private charter. Write or telephone DIRiGO CRUISES. 39 Waterside Lane, Clinton, CT 06413 ortelephone 1 -800-845-5520... or come to the ship at UVNDS END MARINA for information. ANGELC*S Takeout and Delivery Service Available OPEN DAILY TIL 4 A M 208 DUVAL ST. I miss Mary Reynolds Brown. Mary and I go back to the time when she, like an equinoctial gale, first breezed into Key West. She then wore a neck brace because her horse fell on a difficult jump on a track in Ireland, and Mary broke her neck. She already at the time, at age 25, was a world equestrienne. She came here to stay at the bedside of her grandmother. Grandmother was a neighbor of mine in one of those larg'e houses that still sit broodingly there on the skirts of the ocean. Perhaps platonic lady friend friendship is as nice and warm and whole as love. Mary and I are of complete diversity in life style, chronology and intellectuality, and, yet, dear she is to me. I have been a long time away in a far SAUNA 294-3509 JACUZZI SHOWERS place and, having returned, I decide to visit Mary who now, report has it, is living on her yacht. I stand there wearing my Minnie Mouse underpants, a Christmas present, beside an adolescent palm tree, regarding the yacht. I know little about yachts, but this one looks decidedly unoccupied. Yachts enchant and awe me, as they do most inlanders. My worst water experience came years ago when my Shetland pony, Bevo, laid down on me while we were fording a shallow crook of the Pecos River. And, while I was running about covering island social tremors in the sixties here-, I met a lot of boaters at their annual festivity at Logun's Restaurant. They wound up setting fire to the head table where Miami doctor boat owners sat drinking pina coladas from skulls. The most tireless arsonist could have trouble getting a good blaze going at a table drenched in barbeque sauce mixed with pina colada. But these sweethearts managed it. Honcho sat at head of the table raising his skull in a toast, chunk of salad tomato protruding from his ear like a cork from a bottle. Stuck there, C ° KEY WEST TAEKWONPO NAUTILUS FITNESS CENTER t r y a c o m p l i m e n t a r y w o r k o u t 16 NAUTILUS MACHINES COED flER0BICS CLASSES M F 9 a m ~ 1 P f T ^ 4pm-3pm5 3 H T lOam-SJprn 2922 North Roosevelt • Key Plaza . thrown unerringly by another honcho, length of table,, through wisps of smoke. I recall Stu Logun striding through, smoke issuing out of this ears, giving the bat- counter a tendentious bang that set the maraschino cherries and the thin lemon slices to jiggling. I retired to my car where I wrote a little poem to myself on a crumpled napkin clenched in my hand. There was a spidery mist creeping in off the ocean, it being gone 3 a.m. Shivery enough to pull on an old white sweater always in the car. Had a button missing on the bosom and a coffee stain a year old. As 1 start off, man pounding on the window, "Weren't you with the Evinrude bunch in Tampa?" Back to Mary's yacht in the present time frame. I raise my eyes to three authoritative port holes. "Red Rover. Red Rover. Let Frances come over!" No reply. A pelican atop a pole gives an uncommitted twitch. I sadly walk away and indulge in a long drive clear around the island thinking about Mary. She should have been painted by Goya, with her pale, narrow muzzle, aquamarine blue eyes. Her lovely hair springing from Fine Dining qUEEN'5 TflBbE the best motel restaurant " •••{,BREAKFAST:K;S '::/' 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Cocktails in the popular WEST INDIES LOUNGE Noon'til? AT THE SANTA MARIA MOTEL (305)296-5678 1401 SIMONSTON ST. KEY WEST, FLORIDA SWEETJMISCHIEF Glamorous Ways To Make Trouble Our Specialties: A Exotic Swimwcar & Beach Coverups @ Enticing Lingerie 9 Accessories by Whiting & Davis 9 Custom Designs .« Breath-taking Selections for Evening . . . and Afterward 335 DUVAL DUVAL WALK 296-0777 her head is the color of a piano. Wearing the Reynolds pearls. Picture framed in sold leaf. Back here a little while ago, Mary called me where I was in North Carolina. There is a subliminal note in her voice coming'from Key West, or perhaps it's the telephone connection. I scald my tongue on a cup of Earl Grey tea I just poured. What thins now is happening to Mary or is Mary happening to what thing. Images flicker on.. the-baek'S of my eyelids: Mary riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle for Reynolds Aluminum to Hawaii .... Mary aboard the Orient Express in the candlelit dining car sipping from a crystal goblet of Perrier water as the tundras flash past... Mary in a sable jogging suit on Fifth Avenue giving her pet ocelot walkies. Mary is as romantic as a historical novel. More than a decade ago, when she met and fell in love with a swashbuckling sheriff Bobby Bro.wn,--the island keeled.-over a bit on "its. axis. She turned in and pulled off a successful marriage with B.B., whom she adored, adopting his two youngest children of his six children. She is a loving mother to them. When B.B. passed away, she was like that goddess of the myths who in her nef wanted to turn into a fountain and let people drink her tears. Mary endeared herself to this island, being a wonderfully caring citizen on all worthwhile projects. She scooped up a- lot of votes, served a swift little spell (very swift, very little) as Supervisor of Elections, then fled. A political figure nabbed the post with a sharklike snap. Here is a typical Mary memory: One afternoon in the seventies, she called, me when I was in Tallahassee, my roommate being aide to a senator. I believe that I was nibbling a Ritz cracker, and I suppose Mary, who is a bleeding heart, thought that my voice sounded depressed. Mary sent me a consolation gift, air freight. When I opened our.door on the third floor of the Our 6th ¥ear of Creatiue, Original: Dancetuear • Costumes Sportswear • Lingerie Sujimujear If Vou Don't See It - WE'LL MflKE IT! 415 GREENE ST./KINQ PLRZfl 296-7326 Tallahassee Hilton Hotel a little group was lingering in the hall, all eyes: bellhop, little black* kitty, in- cat-carrier, a senator fî om Jacksonville, two Miami congressmen, Jje attorney general's wife, a man delivering liquor to a party down- the way arid- the maid, :': Mary Pur ham. The Reynolds family calls her this after her mother's maiden If You've Got It, Here's A Great Way T© Carry It! THE fQCQf CARD. DON'T LIVE HERE WITHOUT IT. . . 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(Same Address ONLY) Page 10 - March 1987 - Solares Hill Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 11 A Wwld for Children 4 Children's Department Store" Fine dotltiiig, shoes, toys, games, and stuffed animals for children 402 DUVAL STREET 296-4015 CARVED SIGNS •BIlt'E HEAVEN, 729 THOMAS SI" ITALIAN & FRENCH CUISINE / SEAFOOD SPECIALTIES OPEN 6-12 MIDNIGHT DAILY / HAPPY HOURS 6-8 524 DUVAL OLD TOWN KEY WEST 29+7863 latuta/ odi so Creative ccoking esperienee ucluding tofu and Terapei « Sairyiess dishes • tonr cholesterol foods * natural desserts and more Is your own none or is a coaannit; kitcieir Eccipes aid dinner included Wesster 294-1211 ACCOUNTING AND TAX SERVICES For Businesses and Individuals Processed Professionally, Efficiently, and Timely Servicing Key West, Marathon and the Lower Keys George Swimmer Phone; 745-2787 name. When she came to Key West, she was a flower grown in the shade. Mother died after a long illness. Father: The financial lion, Billy Reynolds. Cared for by staff in the big Louisville mansion where, like as not, seated beside her at luncheon or dinner or Kentucky Derby affairs, might be governor, president, prince, tycoon, potentate, socialite, great writer, painter or entertainer. President Reagan's cabinet woman at this time, Elizabeth Dole, often appeared in the household as she then was engaged to Mary's brother until Bob Dole arrived on his white charger and broke brother's heart. Another youthful complication of Mary's: She had dyslexia (mirror image vision). Mary converted to Roman Catholicism with her marriage to B.B. I don't know if. • this is why, but she possesses the virtue of true modesty. That mild, white, impassive face seems totally unmoved that, along with some of her older siblings, she is among powerful, controlling shareholders of Reynolds International. That vast combine owns, all over this world, oil fields, malls, streets of real estate, sections of real estate, fleets of oil tankers, manufacturing plants spitting out about 900,000,000 yards of aluminum foil per spit, not to speak of bauxite mines and every imaginable invention understudy. Mary loves people. Mary knows that closing your eyes to a person's faults is not the same thing as being blind. All right, so this makes Mary naive. She proved to be about as deep a political thinker as Samantha Smith. Mary does not seem able to make SOLE OWNERS Mark Donahue Francisco Carpentier Jkmt S&iy'g Q/toce/ty 72g Siwowton S te t 296-3891 OPEN 8:30AM T[L 11:00PM 7 DAYS WATERFRONT CAMPGROUND & TRAILER PARK IN DOWNTOWN KEY WEST i;AMI'i WAlK IOOIII l!IWNAIIKAi:llllNS- MOHIII IIIIMI AIWIMINI IHIIIAIil HINI/IIS UN! VAN Mliroil HIIMI- K IIMIIIII Sill S • HIM hllllKIII'S Hill SIIIIWIIIS IMIMI'SUIKM OLD IOWN H1CYCI.I HI.NIAI.S 223 ELIZABETH ST., (305) 294-5723 RESERVATIONS WELCOME distinctions. So ... she fell prey to slick political manipulation, people are saying. Arrows of criticism. They won't last. They will slide gently to the ground. For, deep down, Mary, her father's daughter, is a rock bottom, nitty gritty survivor. For kind, sweet, generous Mary, it is my wish that an angel stand at her shoulder and play a flute. I miss Mary Reynolds Brown. Family Resource Center Forms Mothers of Twins Club v ™ F a m i I y Reso"rce Center of Florida Keys Memorial Hospital is happy to announce tfje formation of a Mothers of Twins Club. Membership is open to all parents of twins, ™ S S \ q U a d r U p l e t s a n d quintuplets, and expectant parents of multiples. g r ° U p Wil1 o f f e r ^formation and n e w a n d e x p e c t a n t p a r e m s o f p Dlea?ry?!ifI?'-intercsted i n JoininS the club, fn,frn,t E ! I e n e Molineaux, Parenting 294 w f ' a t ̂ F a m i I y R «°urce Center! ^4-5531, extension 2230. iiiii»ii«iiiliiiiiifc m T R O P I C A L D E C O • O R I E N T A L D E C O H€H DESISNS 704 DUVAL KEY WEST FL 33040 (305)296-4415 U N I S E X C L O T H I N G " C E R A M I C S Commodore Porter Bases The Mexican Navy at Key West by Colin G. Jameson Key Westers know that Commodore David Porter,.USN, drove the pirates from this area early in the last century. His West India Squadron, based on the island from 1823 to 1826, also cleaned up the Gulf of Mexico, the coastal waters of Cuba and Puerto Rico, and the northern Caribbean Sea. Few realize, however, that following that stint, Porter entered on a new seagoing career in a foreign service. He joined the fledgling Mexican Navy as its commanding officer, or "General de la Marina," as it was called.* This responsibility led him to revisit Key West and establish a Mexican naval outpost in U.S. territorial waters. In those days Mexico and Colombia (at the time the latter included Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela) were anxious to spread their newly found independence to Cuba, still a threatening outpost of Spain, their former mother country. On paper Porter's mission was to blockade the Pearl of the Antilles. In practice this meant interfering with Spanish commerce in and out of Havana, one of the world's seven busiest ports. The planned blockade would also force the vastly superior Spanish Navy to set up a * Prior to Porter, guns on Mexican naval vessels were served by army artillerymen, while other soldiers performed the duties of sailors and marines. Mexican Food & Cocktails Open 12-12 Monday-Sunday Jumbo Margaritas Indoor & Outdoor Dining 5091/2 Duval 294-9215 SW/MM/A/G- POOLS er INC. Cuban convoy system that would dilute its capabilities in Mexican waters. Who Was Porter? Commodore Porter came from one of America's most renowned military families; six of his sons served their country, plus Commodore Porter one foster child (Admiral Farragut). After numerous exploits as a young officer, Porter commanded the frigate Essex during the War of 1812. On a South Pacific sweep, the Essex captured 12 vessels as prizes, thus extinguishing the British whaling trade and turning Porter into a national hero. Dl VITA HANDCRAFTED JEWELRY •UNIQUE SELECTION OF STERLING SILVER-14K GOLD AND SEMI PRECIOUS STONES 536 FLEMING ST. NexttoFausto's PHOTO SPECIAL! 1 ONE HOUR COLOR PRINT IC-41)" PROCESSING LAB FREE ENLARGEMENTS 8 X 10 BUY ONE 8 X 10 AND GET ONE FREE Limit 5 Free Coupon must be presented "TAKE HOME YOUR PHOTOS NOT YOUR FILM!" In-store Fast Photo Processing Key West Instant Images 408 Duva! Street Key West (Downtown) Inside Photo-Sonics Croissants *» 816 duval k.ey west 294 2624 assortment inc. 404 OWA;• KEY WEST Page fa — Marchai$8f — Scares Hill YOUR FULL.SERVICE JEWELER • Custom Designs • 4 4 Karat & Sterling Silver Jewelry * Precious & Semi-Precipus Stones • • J(ewelry_Rep:gir FREE GIFT WRAPPING WITH PURCHASE 294^131 301 DUpLSTREET, KEY WEST, In 1822 Congress decided to eliminate the Caribbean area pirates, who by 1820 had committed 3,000 attacks since the war. Porter was a popular choice for command, and a wise one. In the two years after the West India Squadron first dropped anchor at Key West in 1923, it did-away with more than 75 pirate vessels. But in so doing, its commander did not endear himself to the group of hardworking civilians trying to make a go of it in Key West, or Thompson's Island, as the Navy called it. He operated under the theory that all property, from pigs to plants, was held by his permission and at his sufferance as agent of the U.S.* * Example: The father of Stephen Mallory, Confederate Secretary of the Navy ("Mallory Square") was jailed for selling cider to a sailor though Mrs. Mallory insisted he had Porter's permission to sell such, "and when arrested was sick in bed, undergoing a course of mercury." LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE COMPANY High Quality Long Distance Service at Substantial Savings 400 Simonton Street, Key West, Florida 33040 296-3101 Thus Key Westers were overjoyed when two things happened: (1) Piracy was subdued; (2) Porter was court-martialed for forcibly releasing one of his officers whom the Spanish in Puerto Rico had jailed as a suspected pirate. . ..;•• In Washington the Commodore defended himself vigorously against Samuel Southard, Secretary of the Navy (hence, Southard Street in Key West), and other critics but was suspended from the Navy for six months. Being a man intolerant of inaction, he resigned and went to work for Mexico. He disdained (and probably discredited) a $60,000 offer from the Spanish crown conditioned on his refusal to accept the Mexican proposal. Mexico Builds a Navy In the 1820's Mexico was in political turmoil that would make recent electoral history in that nation look like teatime in a nunnery. When in 1823 strongman Iturbide You don't have to be one of Jimmy Buffett's "Parrot Heads" to appreciate the Margaritavi\]e Store. However, once you've experienced "Margarita- vilie," you'll most likely want to join the dub. JB T-shirts and Parrot Head paraphernalia, nautical gifts, and lots of local color. #4 LAND'S END VILLAGE • KEY WEST, FL • 296-3070 caused himself to be elected emperor, the chaos hanging over from the basic Revolution of 1810 was only temporarily eased. Within a year Iturbide had abdicated on request and was put out to grass in Italy. He was succeeded by Guadalupe Victoria, the first elected president. A week after taking office, the new chief executive made a pitch to the Mexican Congress for a new navy, He said that if the nation were to be successful in communicating and trading with the rest of the world, its rundown navy would be inadequate to fend off "wartime enemies" (a state of war still existed with Spain, the mother country) and "adventurers seeking asylum" (perhaps the pirates would return). Congress agreed. Money was found, some of it lent by Great Britain in recognition of the fact that the empire of Iturbide had been replaced by a republican form of government. Ship construction was • , Guide your canoe silently over clear, protected tropical island waters with an experienced local naturalist Treat yourself to a feast of the Lower Keys' most serene natural beauty, in the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge Don! miss this unique experience 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. $45 per person ($40 for 4 or more] Equipped Canoes & Lunch for more information write P.O. Box 62, Big Pine Key, FL 33043 Call 305-872-2620 Solares Hill — M9rchl987,— Page Explore ER on J \—urni'tu'pe <3nd 1024 Duval Street 294-2032 Open Noon to 5 7 Days contracted to foreign powers, notably the U.S., where the state-of-the-art brig Guerrero came along fast after initial delay. Historians agree that in this frantic buildup "money was badly allocated and worse distributed." Despite this, a new and relatively formidable Mexican navy was coming along. Who should run it? A new commander, with experience and drive, and no local axes to grind or be ground, was needed to train and lead the force. The famous and newly unemployed Commodore Porter was signed. He set sail for Veracruz in the spring of 1826, taking with him sons Thomas and David, aged 14 and 12. Young David was fated to eventually command all U.S. naval units afloat. Porter was a much-admired figure and received solid support from both personnel and officialdom until later, when politics began to make insidious inroads. But not until late fall of 1926 was the fleet ready for action; the time was needed "to correct the vices resulting from a prolonged stay in port." Also the General of Marine had to convert his soldiers into sailors. Discipline, as may have been inferred, was his favorite sport. Porter Goes to.Sea The squadron with which Commodore Porter finally sortied from Veracruz comprised the frigate Libertad, 40 guns, the brig Victoria, 20 guns, and Bravo and Hermon, each 18 guns. This group was to be reinforced as soon as possible by the new Guerrero and other vessels under construction. Spanish forces were much more powerful, except in morale, with four frigates and four brigs; one of the former mounting 54 guns, making it a sort of super-frigate. Don Angel Laborde, admiral commanding at Havana, at once put to sea to counter Porter's threat to Cuban sealanes. Whereupon the Commodore, after inflicting light damage, prudently withdrew to the familiar waters of the Lower Keys. There the more cumbersome Spanish vessels, fearful of reefs and tricky channels familiar even to Porter's young sons, did not choose to follow. Thenceforth the Commodore used Key West as a permanent haven and base of operations and supply. At the age of 47, he was full of energy and enjoying this workout with the.Spanish authorities whose Puerto. Rican representatives he considered responsible for his exit from the U.S. Navy. His mood may have prevented him from observing that his old enemies on The Rock were concerned by his presence in the harbor. Their complaints were 'muffled.by the fact that he brought in prizes that were the source of substantial profit, while the provisioning and upkeep of the Mexican squadron were also of commercial importance. Now and then the squadron would sneak into the Straits of Florida and pick off a Spanish vessel or two, once even landing a party near Havana and gathering up a mule train laden with coffee. Plunder was put ashore at Key West and disposed of in the ordinary course of the island's as-yet-imregulated. salvage economy, Actually Porter was running a privateering enterprise mueb'like-the ones he had assortment inc. 404 DUVAL* KEY WEST TIRED OF THE SAME OLD GAMES? TRY ONE OFOURS! QUALITY TOYS AND GAMES FOR ALL AGES WE SHIP ANYWHERE • FREE GIFT/WRAPPING OPEN 7 DAYS 11 KEY LIME SQUARE 294-7776 MAGINATIONTOGO^ ' T 1 i w * * -'Sp* *"* 3P"™~3fcSLl?T Uncommon Clothes for Uncommon People EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE AT PERKINS & SON CHANDLERY 901 FLEMING ST. • 294-7635 Page 14 — March 1987 — Solares Hill THE ANTIC HUMOR OF RICHARD WATHERWAX 11 GALLERY" discouraged when chasing pirates. The Mexican Government authorized the "General of Marine" to issue letters-of-marque, creating private commerce raiders to sail under the Mexican flag. But he commissioned only one such, La Molestadora.. After a successful cruise in Cuban waters, this vessel boldly moved to the Mediterranean. She operated there for five months against the Spanish, taking nine ships. Admiral Laborde was not amused by the goings-on at Key West. He responded with raids along Mexican shores. His ships destroyed a few small coastal vessels, but when a Mexican naval unit was captured, she was bloodily retaken by her crew. As the planners had foreseen, Laborde could not commit significant forces to Mexico while Porter threatened his rear from unassailable Key West. But the Spanish admiral's counter-blockade against Porter was nonetheless unrelenting. When the Commodore would sail out against the small Spanish sentinals in the Straits, they would melt away toward Cuba to summon their big brothers. But often the interval was helpful, enabling Porter 's swift ships to make it to the high seas before they could be cornered by overwhelming firepower. Mexican naval historian Chavez Orozco quotes a letter from a friend in Key West, dealing with the early Mexican presence there: "(As I write) the Squadron remains in port. The Herman has slipped away to Veracruz with prisoners. Discipline on all the ships had drastically improved, and it is now a pleasure to observe them. The former soldiers are making excellent sailors and handle the guns very well ... Commodore Porter is adopting the most effective means to harass the enemy ... the .blockade is minimal (but) the Squadron can sortie at will through any of the four channels from this key. "Porter is so scrupulous in observing the neutrality of this country that he has refused services he would gladly accept if he were at sea ... He is too prudent to risk action unless he is sure of coming out victorious. His squadron maintains itself for half of what it was spending in Veracruz." Spanish navy deserters, reaching New Orleans and other ports, had observed discontent among crews stationed at Havana, They said that only iron-fisted Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 15 control kept others from deserting en masse. At the news that Porter had entered Mexican service, "everybody (had given up) for lost the Spanish naval forces in the (Havana) Bay." Questionable Neutrality The Spanish minister in Washington did not consider Commodore Porter quite so law-abiding as the Mexicans did. He exerted steady pressure on the administration of John Quincy Adams, likening Porter's activities to those of the pirates he had once pursued. Adams, former secretary of state, had more than once dealt with the Commodore's overly patriotic attitude toward foreign regimes. He could not help but listen sympathetically to these complaints. The Key Westers chimed in. Occasional lucrative dealings with Porter had not made them forget their earlier experiences with the feisty little martinet. They were convinced that unless he was better controlled his shady dealings and the wartime atmosphere would soon devastate their long-time enterprises, especially the burgeoning salvage industry. These arguments finally sparked action. Porter's one-time flagship, the John Adams, was dispatched to Key West from Pensacola. She was escorted by USS Eric and USS Peacock, a magnificent model of which is on display at the Lighthouse Museum. Mission: To find out exactly what was going on down there in Porterville.. ' By this time, a number of the Commodore's anti-pirate veterans had gravitated to the Mexican Navy and his command. Others still served in the U.S. vessels. When the Pensacola force arrived, old cronies from the West India Squadron began whooping it up with such abandon that the American group had to curtail its' stay and flee northward before there were wholesale desertions to the Mexican Navy. The visitors reported that the situation was confused, but that during their stay the The Personal Banker Network is working on a new location* Y e s I The eighth branch of The Marine Bank will soon be open at the corner of Angela and Whitehead in Key West, bringing with it all the convenience and service of the entire Personal Banker Network. The new branch is being 'designed to meet the needs of its very special neighborhood. There will be 6 inside teller windows, 2 drive-up teller windows, 1 walk-up teller window (!) and, of course, a GENIE, The Marine Bank's 24 Hour Automatic Teller. As a full service location, the new branch will offer the complete line of financial services available at any Marine Bank location including 100% Free Checking (really!), plenty of safety deposit boxes, Money Market Fund accounts, Discount Brokerage Services and much more, We'll see you soon in Old Town, Key West! THE OF MONROE COUNTY From Key Largo To Key West The Only Locally • Owned Bank Offering A Full'BervtGe Trust Department FD1C A N 0 H O $ 10O°/o FREE CHECKING IALPHLAUREN assortment inc. •:; i : 404 DUVAL *'KEY WEST; Mexican Navy didn't seem to be fighting anything except the rum bottle. Nevertheless, the Spanish minister kept bugging the State Department. In belated response, Porter upped anchor and shifted his headquarters back to Veracruz. This Dansk. Because Great Dining Means More than Great Food. Set your table with Dansk at savings of up to 60% on discontinued patterns, seconds, and limited editions. Distinctive designs for dining, cooking, entertaining, and giftgiving. We ship UPS. Checks, MasterCard, Visa. Open 7 days. Now Sn Key West Dansk Factory Outlet • Key West, FL 400 Duval Street, in the heart of Old Town (305)294-0151 rumen xyo i — ooiares imi U V A L P COMMERCIAL • RESIDENTIAL -COMPLEX 1'! •t U N I Q U E 2O,O0Osq.R R E T A I L AREA I i Prestigious shopping space in historic "Old Town" Conch-style store fronts in the Bahamian/ Victorian tradition C 1 Exclusive off-street parking Various array of upscale shops and boutiques INDIVIDUAL 1&2 STORY TOWNHOMES I— U Separate residential enclave czzi Private covered parking and pool 1075 DUVAL ST. KEY WEST (305)294-423 3/(305)294-2205 James Garcia or Linda Koger Solares HOI — March 1987 — Page 17 Opn'tzm*- 7^^^ Celebrate the sensations from our collection of the world's most casual, comfortable, terrific clothing for men. Feel it. Open 7 days a week. 617 Duval Street 294-1570 . . took the spotlight off what remained of business as usual at Key West. Up to now, 24 Spanish ships had been seized or destroyed, with damage to many more. Mexico, as a republic, had made evident progress toward becoming a sovereign nation. But not in politics. The Politicians Take Over In Mexico extreme turbulence ushered in the electioneering weather of 1828. Incredible as it may seem today, politics then derived from a vendetta between two Masonic lodges, the Scottish Rite and the York Rite. The outgoing president, Guadalupe Victoria, was a Yorkist. The party standard-bearer was Vicente Guerrero, hero of the Revolution, namesake of Porter's newest ship and also of the western Mexican state in which Acapulco is located. Unfortunately for Porter, and, indeed, Mexico, one of .Guerrero's supporters was a different kind of hero. Or knave, depending on how you look at it. His name was Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Santa Anna later served as president of his country, its dictator, its supreme army commander. In 1829 he repulsed a last desperate Spanish invasion. When you "Remember the Alamo," you should remember Santa Anna; he annihilated the defenders of that historic structure. Colonel Santa Anna, as he was at that time, hated all gringos, especially Commodore Porter, whom he regarded, perhaps with reason, as a carpetbagger and too honest. When Porter journeyed from Veracruz to Mexico City (200 miles as the crow does it) to repair his political fences, it is said that Santa Anna decided to cut off this Yankee interloper at the pass. The "General of Marine" was ambushed by four mounted men. The Commodore was short on temper and stature but not on courage and weapons. It is recorded that he killed two of his assailants with his pistols, then grabbed a shotgun from his Mexican companion and put to flight the surviving assassins. The Loss of the Guerrero Porter's forces afloat were not so fortunate. On the morning of February 1, 1828, the newly commissioned brig Guerrero, under command Of the Commodore's nephew, David H. Porter, 21, ran up on the Spanish brig-of-war Marte, accompanied by the smaller Amelia, assortment inc if C; ;404 DWALV KEYWESIK; Page 18 — March 1987 — Solares Hill '1 ^urd 'feu'West's °«*ui skip Tinrfitioncit 74 Schooner Cnpncity 44 Passengers U.S. Const fiunicf lnspcctaf &• Certified sAftetnoon Sailing ~ Trips - CnfC /or Information Sunset Cruise S to 7 pm - 115.00 Available for Cfinrter AiftjtUne A&B Lobster House Dock 700 Front St. 296-WOLF with 25 coastal vessels in convoy. Young Porter attacked, dispersing the merchant ships, which fell back under the protection of land forts, then pinned the Spanish naval vessels against a sandbar and inflicted heavy damage. The Mexican historican Lerdo asserts that this action took place off the town of Banes, and that Spanish units from the ' capital reached the area that afternoon. If so, it was the fastest sea voyage known to man, since Banes is 400 miles east of Havana. Actually the engagement occurred off Mariel, a town perhaps too well known in South Florida. So it was easy to rush the news to Havana, only 25 miles away, in time for the mighty super-frigate Lealtad to recall her crew from liberty and get under way by 2:00 PM. . The Guerrero sighted the Lealtad at 5:00. David H. Porter, seriously outgunned, tried to make a run for it to the Dry Tortugas. But the larger ship lay to windward and could easily contain him. Porter kept trying through the night. Occasional shots were exchanged. Lealtad kept contact. At dawn both vessels opened fire. . The unequal duel continued for two and a half hours. Both ships were shot up, but the Guerrero suffered two masts carried away, and only the mainsail still functioned. . Captain Porter assembled his officers on the poopdeck. If ammunition had not run so low, there was still a chance for the Guerrero, whose marksmanship was demonstrably superior. But after discussion it was decided to strike the flag. While shouting orders to the crew, the Captain Ernest Hemingway Home dud Museum A Registered National Historical Landmark OPEN DAILY 9:00 A.M. TO 5:00 P.M. 907 WHITEHEAD STREET, KEY WEST, FLA. Take a leisurely tour of the home and gardens of the late Nobel Prize winner, Ernest Hemingway. It was here that Mr. Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls, Green Hills of Africa, A Farewell to Arms, Trie Fifth Column, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and The Macomber Affair. Mr. Hemingway was the first Important writer to dis- cover and make Key Wsst his home. He owned the home from 1931 to 1961. Covers One Acre Including Pool & Guest House was killed instantly by a 24-pound cannonball, the only "Mexican" officer lost in the battle. The Mexican Navy went into mourning - for 30 days in honor of the pride of the Navy and her gallant commander. The damaged vessels were towed to Havana and reconstructed in the shipyard which had built the treasure ship Santa Maria de Atoclia 200 years before. The Guerrero joined the Spanish fleet under the appropriate name of The Captive. The Mexican Congress voted to pay the debts of those lost on that fatal Febaiary 2. A drive was launched to fund a Guerrero II. The government did not rally to the second endeavor. The modest amounts collected, mostly in Mexico City and Veracruz, were "otherwise expended." Retreat From Key West The Key West-based war on Spanish trade continued, but in desultory fashion. It was finally blown away by the winds of politics. As Commodore Porter himself remarked, "For political intrigue, Mexico compared to Washington is as Mt. Orizaba compared to a level plain." . Porter never -moved back to Key West.' He was becoming discouraged with the dwindling support received from the Mexican government. Everyone had ears for only one subject, the presidential election of 1828. Bravo, who had been Scottish Rite vice-president under Yorkist Guadalupe Victoria, Porter's patron, realized that he could not win the election, 'with hero Guerrero as opposition. He attempted an uprising. Iturbide, one-time would-be "tmnzinpT inter arts T H E K E Y C O L L E C T I O N tool HAMMOCKS 50C 6 Andrew TakinS hi W t a m e d u h i m t 0 c o m e h o m e .laking his time about it, he resigned his S E T aS " " << lgMt no gOt t h e n e w s ' t h e r e was t P o r t e r h a d b e e n a tnukanrp K, IX aucci !>" sorter nad been a Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 19 1 I.. 10$Cokes(9imit4) With Purchase of a 12" Pizza Just purchase any 12" Pizza and you can have up to four 12 oz cans of Coke for 10$ each. One Coupon per Pizza Monroe County Only Coupon expires 4/13/87 SERVICE iQc Cokes (limit 6), With Purchase of a 16" Pizza Just purchase any 16" Pizza and you can have up to six 12 oz cans of Coke for 10$ each. One Coupon per Pizza Monroe County Only Coupon expires 4/13/87 E 10$ Cokes (limit 4) With Purchase of a 12" Pizza Just purchase any 12" Pizza and you can have up to four 12 oz cans of Coke for 10$ each. One Coupon per Pizza Monroe County Only Coupon ®xp!re$ 4/13/87 100 Cokes (Ifmlt 6) With Purchase of a 16" Pizza Just purchase any 16" Pizza and you can have up to six 12 oz cans of Coke for 10$ each. One Coupon per Pizza Monroe County Only Coupon expires 4/13/87 Having a Domino's Pizza store nearby is like being on a per- manent vacation: you can order room service every night! Just call and order your favorite pizza. We'll deliver it to your door in less than 30 minutes. So pick up the phone and order room service. Domino's Pizza Delivers®! Our drivers carry less than $20.00. Limited delivery area. ©1986 Domino's Pizza, Inc. DOMINO'S PIZZA DELIVERS FREE. KeyWest-3128Flagler 294-9584 Key West-922 Truman 296-7795 Marathon - 6679 Overseas Hwy 743-2266 Plantation Key - M M 88 852-8855 Key Largo-M.M. 99 .451-4951 CS Page 20 — March 1987 — Solares Hill Patricia Reiss and Qari| Young present to Keq West The Sanctuary A Healing Centre An association of Licensed Therapists and practitioners providing the entire spectrum of Massage Therapies, Rebirthing, Reiki & Quided Imagery Quest presenters, as u/ell as weekly programs in Yoga and Meditation, create a learning center for persona! growth. A New Age Cafe" A place to nourish qourself u/ith Healthq, Natural, Vegetarian Cuisine, deliciouslu. and lovingltj prepared. Fresh Food Daily.. A.Qatlerq A space for Art & Beautq, featuring local artists monthly,. The Sanctuary A Light in the Hew Age 530 Simonton St. / Key. West Healing Centre: 294-7104 Cafe: 294-6553, Mon - Sat 12 - 10, Sundau, Brunch BY HEXAGON TILE CALL COLLECT"- 1 PATIOS POOL 0£CKS S/0£ WALKS EUROPEAN COBBLESTONE Grunt Bone Alley & A Goat Named Alice by Bets Reynolds If you like Old Key West for its offbeat cast of characters, you're bound to like Grunt Bone Alley, alsoknown as Peacon Lane. Peacon Lane, in the foothills of Solares Hill, runs downhill for one short block from Eaton to Caroline Street. Unlike most of this pancake-flat island, it has a measurable In 1974 when we bought our 130-year- old Peacon Lane Conch house, we were warned about our next-door neighbor, the eccentric artist, Henry Faulkner. Henry was notorious for, among other oddities, owning a small menagerie of animals, at least six dogs, countless cats and, at one time, a goat named Alice. As it turned out, Henry was a thoughtful neighbor. He put his noisy animals indoors at night so they wouldn't disturb the neighbors, and he kept them inside until the reasonable morning hour of 8 AM. Alice, the goat, was long dead when we moved to Grunt Bone Alley, but a painting of her slope. During a heavy rainstorm, water rushes down it in a torrent to form a small lake at Caroline. Key West's Only Outdoor Oceanfront Restaurant. DINING Indoors or Under The Stars. BILLY WEBBS BAR Live Music. THEAFTERDECK A Transom's Height Above The Water. Enjoy All Of Our Views. 11:30 AM -1 AM 700 WAD DELL • 294-1061 (Vernon &. Waddetl Oceanfront) hangs in our house, a gift from Henry for the use of our phone. Henry once had himself listed in the Key West phone book as Alice Faulkner, but when Alice died he cancelled his listing and was phoneless. The Faulkner painting we received as a result is entitled "Alice in Her Celestial Garden". Henry's titles were as poetic as his paintings. Henry is now' gone, killed in a car accident in Kentucky, but he willed his Peacon Lane home to Stefan Brecht, son of Bertholdt Brecht of Three-Penny Opera fame. Though he is not often in Key West, Stefan has succeeded in keeping his house looking as funky as it did when it was owned by Henry. He rents it to a group of pleasant "Sunset People" with casual housekeeping habits and an unconventional outlook on life. Henry would be delighted to know that they practice elaborate Sara Cook PROPERTY MANAGEMENTS "*SALES A Personal Firm With A Proven Track Re<*>rd Specializing In Full-S«rvice Management Seasonal 8c Yearly Rentals foco! 294-8491 5» Eaton St. liHIMl acrobatic routines in the middle of the Alley on moonlit nights. During our first years in the Alley, Sarah Russell lived across from Henry and theirs was a casual but stormy relationship, resulting in a great deal of noise. Sarah ("I'm not a Conch, I'm a Cracker!") was well into her late, but feisty, seventies. Her battles with Henry were mainly about garbage. In addition to freeing himself from the expense of a phone, Henry chose to ignore both the convenience and the cost of the-city's garbage disposal service. He owned no garbage cans and Sarah accused him, often rightly, of using hers. Except for her forays into the Alley to fight with Henry, Sarah kept to herself. She read her evening paper, sitting in solitary dignity in a garden chair under a street lamp at the corner of our driveway. After she died, money was found hoarded all over her tiny house, stuffed in mattresses and behind dresser drawers. The Conch house two doors down from Sarah's belonged to Dorothy Raymer, journalist of note and creator of the Key West gossip column, "Conch Chowder". She was a good natured gadabout and she, too, was noisy, partly because of her increasing deafness. She never carried on a . conversation in a normal tone of voice and when she was angry with her dog, El Fuzz, her vociferous swearing could be heard over half of Conchtown. Dorothy, too, is now dead and buried in the Key West City Cemetary as she wished to be. I don't know what happened to El Fuzz, but if he isn't near her, then the cemetery is decently quiet as it should be. Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 21 When Sarah's and Dorothy's houses were bought and stylishly renovated, we were afraid that Grunt Bone Alley might lose its offbeat personality to gentrification, but it didn't succumb. It is still a rich Old Town mixture of Conch and Cuban families, an artist, an author, an actor/ director, a flight stewardess who lives,in a house that for two years had no back wall on the first floor (until finally glass doors were installed) and, near Caroline Street, an old man who makes his home in a broken- down car permanently parked on flat tires beside his son's cottage. Both cottage and car are exuberantly decorated at Christmastime. We have recently sold our Peacon Lane house and will have to re-adjust to our other home in sane, sensible, predictable Toronto. We'll miss our beloved Conch house, so imaginatively restored by designer and friend, Tom Szuter, who has an artist's eye for space and form. We'll miss our Key West friends who came to parties in our garden, an Old Town garden with a wealth of tropical plants and a poverty of grass. It was planted by Frank Fontis who, before he was murdered in a robbery at his Coffee Mill Museum, was the caretaker of Tennessee Williams' house. Williams professed to believe that there was something supernaturally evil about Frank, but we've seen no sign of it in our garden, except for dark, silent shapes that move through a rocky corner filled with cactus plants. We tell ourselves that these shadowy prowlers are just Grunt Bone Alley cats. We will miss them, too. a. ^r The Sunglass Shop $10.00 OFF (With This Ad Only) ANY SUNGLASSES Regularly $25 or More (Sale Glasses Excluded; Offer Expires March 12) Searstown Shopping Center 294-5503 Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9-5 Sat. 10-2 SUNGLASSES GOTTEX SWIMWEAR FOR MEN assortment inc. 404 DUVAL. KEY WEST ISLAND DENTAL ASSOCIATES OFFERING COMPREHENSIVE DENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR KEY WESTERS including • COSMETIC BONDING • PER1ODONTIST (gum specialist) • EVENING, SATURDAY & EARLY HOURS » SPECIAL ATTENTION FOR "COWARDS" . • TOOTH-COLORED FILLINGS • A STAFF THAT CARES If you've delayed the professional care you deserve, we welcome your visit. Dental cleaning appointments are now available. Drs. Goldner, Eaton, Mayfield and Associates We thank you for your continued support. 1721 Flagler Avenue • 294-6696 pic Red Barn Theatre PRESENTS NUNSENSE The Musical Comedy by Dan Goggin BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Reopens March 4 - March 22 THE DRESSER A Witty Backstage Drama Opens April 1 Call 296-9911 For Reservations Box Office Open 12-5 Except Mondays 319 Duval Street (Rear) Page 22 — March 1987 — Solares Hill Cancel the Countdown Rally — Cape Canaveral Florida, January 17, 1987 A national demonstration and nonviolent actions protesting the first flight testing of the Trident II missile. On January 15, 1987, at Cape Canaveral, the Navy began flight testing the Trident II (D-5) missile; the Pentagon's 'BLAME IT ON THE MOON!" 1202 SIMONTON Open 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Serving Lunch and Dinner Specials LCOMES YOU CAULI WAVE Part of the 5,500 demonstrators at the fence of the Cape CanaveralAirForceUa.se, Jan.17, 4 PM. newest and most dangerous first-strike nuclear weapon. The launch had been delayed three times by demonstrators THE MAN IN THE GREY FLANNEL* SWEAT SUIT Poetic license - It's really Russell Athletic Fleece. The best made. They outfit 27 of the 28 NFL teams- and we outfit you! occupying the test area. Between January 9 and 17, 1.95 people were arrested for nonviolently trespassing on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; citing the Nuremberg Principle and International Law, calling on all citizens to resist the preparation for mass genocide. At 3:30 PM, Saturday, January 17, approximately 5,500 people arrived at the south gate of the Air Force Base in a peaceful statement of opposition to this latest development of our government's policies. The choice of Cape Canaveral as the test site proves that'the government views the space program and its installations as extensions of military policy. Cape Canaveral is also the site of numerous launches of Star Wars components and other space weapons. The Cape stands as a symbol of the Pentagon's use of the Space Program to further its military aims.' If flight testing and deployment of the Trident II weapons system is not stopped in the next few years, the Pentagon will reach its long- sought goal of a fuTl-fledged nuclear first strike capability. Nuclear war — by plan, desperation or accident — will be far more likely than ever before. The Trident II missile system will cost the U.S-. taxpayers $40 billion, according to the General Accounting Office. The Star Wars systems could cost as much as one .trillion dollars, all at the expense of dozens of social programs. Prior to.the demonstration, a rally was held at Port Canaveral, 3 1/2 miles from the Air Force Base. People of every age and description came from all parts of the state and country. Many rode the east coast Peace Train originating in Boston, while others came by bus charters. Several hundred joined the Florida Peace Pilgrimage, a 200-mile walk from Kings Bay submarine base in Georgia. The rally had scheduled speakers such as: Dr. Benjamin Spock, Velma Williams, Grace Paley, Michio Kaku, Bishop Gumbleton, and entertainers Odetta and Jim Scott. Posters, banners, and political statements were as varied as the group. Nuclear disarmament was one of many concerns; the C.l.A. involvement in Central America'and tne S.D.I, threat of nuclear weapons in space were other topics. At 2 PM, the rally began the walk to the base where the anti- protesters, who numbered less than 30 people, were greeted peacefully, and dwe,t# the huge numbers of marcher!, became'part"" Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 23 of the mass of people who watched as Dr. Spock led a civil disobedience group over the'A.F.B. fence. Cheers and applause went up as each new peace worker went over the fence into the waiting arms of the Brevard County Police. Of the 195 arrested for trespassing on federal property, 120 refused to give their names. This form of noncoopefation has a stronger impact than individual action. These Jane and John Does are rejecting the bail system as economic discrimination and intend to appear in court as a group. A March trial date is expected. A group of local activists traveled to Cape Canaveral. Among them were Jamie Clarkson and Mally Weaver. Molly reports: "We were part of the group of local activists who traveled to the Cape. We were driving through Melbourne at 10 AM when the missile was fired. We heard from a Great Peace Marcher that many Cape Canaveral citizens thought that the Trident II missile was one of NASA's, not a nuclear missile.- She also said that Titusville was the most intimidating city that she had walked through from LA. to D.C., and from Georgia to the Cape, and the midwest was the most positive. "On Friday, January 16, we walked 18 miles from Titusville to Port Canaveral's Jetty Park, an oceanside campground. That evening a busload of marchers drove to Orlando for a benefit concert for the Trident 11 demonstration. We were treated to a night of music by Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary), Jim Scott and Jim Chopin. Sancfcastle "Your Local Bar-Restaurant" Daily Specials Charbroifed Burgers & Sandwiches Anytime Take Out Available Tap Room Amusements Inside Horseshoe Pits Outside Margaret & Southard "HOME OF THE SUDS RUN" 11:30 AM-4AM 296-0136 "Joan Sears, a Keys resident, was most impressed -by the peaceful attitude demonstrated by the thousands present and Jamie Clarkson remarked on how refreshing to see such as diversified group come together for this issue. This article was submitted by Jamie Clarkson and Mally Weaver on behalf of the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice, P.O. Box 2486, Orlando, Florida, 32802 (305) 422-3479. Jamie can be reached at P.O. Box 4348, Key West, and Mally at 53 Boundary Lane, Key West, 294-2647. United Way Offering A Van Only 1,000 tickets are available for a brand new, 1987 Ford Aerostar Van, fully equipped. Tickets are $50 each and are available from Roy's Auto Parts. Southeast Bank, Marine Bank, Barnett F nk, Navy Key West Federal Credit Urr id from Angler's Reality in Islamorar1 The drawing will be at the United Way Annual Meeting in early April. If tickets are sold out at the above locations, you can call the United Way office, 296-3464, and make arrangements to purchase your ticket. The New York Times says it's "excellent" The New York Times says it's "consistent" The New York Times says it's "popular" The New York Times says it's "special" You'd find it special too. 1208 Simonton/Key West 305-294-0717 There's rumor of perfection..'fDCDf LASPALMAS ORIGINAL L INVENTIVE CUISINE Dinner Nightly 6 P.M. - 1 2 Sunday Brunch 10 A.M. - 3 P.M. Reservations Please. 1029 Southard at Fiances/294-li>91 f- Page 24 — March 1987 — Solares Hill Integrity. Reliability. Experience. CIGNA Auto • Lite • Home • Business THE PORTER-ALLEN COMPAJSTY Key Largo 451-1980 Marathon 743-9008 Key West 294-2542 David W. Freeman, C.P.C.U. William A Freeman, Jr. William A Freeman III, C.I.C. INSURANCE SINCE 1891 Friends of the Library Endowment Fund by Ellen Sugarmart The Friends of the Library, that ultra- worthy service organization, has been around quite a long time — nearly fifteen years. Everyone in Key West knows The Friends, particularly their excellent Monday morning Lectures-at-the-Library series. Monday after Monday during the winter season, year after year, The Friends has managed to pome up with a varied program of fascinating speakers and has packed the library with an enthusiastic audience. Another less manifest, but certainly crucial, function of The Friends is the financial support the group has been able to offer The Library over the years. Particularly at this time, cities are turning more and more to donations from the private sector to augment tax money that once supported their libraries, and Key West is no exception to this national trend. Friends of the Library gives quite a bit of money to the Mae Hill Russell Public Library; over any given year, the amount usually falls in the $6000-$8000 range. Whereas tax dollars are earmarked for salaries and book budget, The Friends' gifts can cover many of the Library's peripheral needs, as they are identified by the Library staff. This year, for example, The Friends donated a state-of- the-art microform reader printer, a cabinet to store the Library's growing collection of video cassettes, a refrigerator for the staff, some individual titles for the special collections, The New York Times on microfilm, and additions to the periodical collection. Last year The Friends of the Library Board of Directors decided to establish an Endowment Fund to better facilitate permanent contributions to the Library from members of the community. The Endowment Fund started out with a modest sum of $5000 which is expected to increase each year. The Fund has been placed with one of Key West's major banks where it will be professionally managed. An Endowment Fund makes it possible for people to make contributions that will continue in perpetuity, since only the earnings are spent. Right now the income is still small, but as time goes by and additional monies are contributed, the amount of help that can be given the Library could become significant. Individuals can also set up a separate memorial fund that will still come under the umbrella of the general Endowment Fund. Jay Alden Manley, a member of the Board, was treasurer of The Friends when it was determined to set up the Endowment Fund and he is now the person in charge of it. Mr. Manley is also Membership Chairman. Having been the librarian of St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., when Mr. Manley retired and moved to Key West six years ago, one of the first things he did was go over to the Library. He remembers, "You heard about The Friends immediately, they had such an active program ... I became interested and joined them. I have enjoyed working with The Friends; they're a very pleasant group. Each Board member contributes something different and they all work very hard." To make a contribution, send your tax-deductible check to: Friends of the Library Endowment Fund, 700 Fleming St., Key West, 33040. Northern Italian Cuisine 615 Duval Street, Key West 294-656S The Hunter by Philip Burton His name was Ladislaus Paray. I met him in Mexico City in July, 1939. As his name suggests, he was a Hungarian. His chief occupation at the time was as an official hunter for the government. His English was good and, as a side-line, he acted as an occasional guide for American Tourists, and it was in that capacity that I first met him. He proved to be a devoted Anglophile, and, when he heard my British accent, he wanted to spend as much time with me as he could. He was a great admirer of Bernard Shaw. I was too, and still am. I had met Shaw a few times. Ladislaus was so impressed by this that our mutual liking grew into a very pleasant friendship, albeit but a temporary one, but it enriched my first visit to Mexico City. As I gradually learned about it, his background was incredibly colorful.. In his late teens he had become a religious novice in his native land, but he soon discovered that the monastic life was not for him. Then he decided to see something of the world, and he had, in fact, gone all around it, sustaining himself by "photoselling." Back home again, he and a friend decided to join the Foreign Legion. They didn't take long to find that that was a mistake and they carefully planned to escape together. Ladislaus succeeded but his friend was shot to death. Then came Central America, with Cuba as a prelude to Mexico. When I met him, Ladislaus was 38, three years older than I. My first adventure with him was to join him on one of his official hunting expeditions. A tribe of Indians whose village was in a jungle clearing had complained that they were much troubled by wild boars. Ladislaus was assigned to deal with it and I went with him. We went in a car, but far from all the way. There was no road through the jungle to the village, only a narrow, barely visible path. Ladislaus was amused by my awkward incompetence in negotiating the jungle path which had been made by feet, not tools and instruments; and the foliage was so dense that I almost crawled most of the way. When we arrived at the primitive settlement Ladislaus was warmly welcomed by the village leaders. He spoke with them in their tribal language, while I stood apart. They were suspicious of me but when Ladislaus had explained my presence they nodded at me with smiles. I remained the center of inquisitive looks while Ladislaus left with the leaders to examine animal tracks and the depradations of the wild beasts. He had told me previously that he would take no action on that visit; it was just a preliminary investigation. While I waited I walked around with a permanent smile. I noticed that many of the villagers, men, women and children, had double scars on their faces. I assumed they were some tribal or religious markings. When Ladislaus returned I asked him about everything for the gardener fertilizers — insecticides — seeds mulch — potting soil decorative clay, ceramic & plastic pots TORO — The Green Machine 1319 William Street 296-5212 Monday - Saturday 8 am - 5 pm Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 25 them. They were bites from green tree- snakes, caused by walking into them, unseen as they hung from trees. "Are they poisonous?" • "Very, but the Indians have a good antidote in some herbs." "Have you been bitten?" "Several times, by tarantulas and snakes." "Seriously?" "Near to death a few times." He said that as nonchalantly as if we were talking about bad weather. Then it struck me that I had to walk back along that jungle path! I expressed my fear to Ladislaus. He laughed and told me to follow close behind him and then the snake would get him, not me. I begged him to go slowly. If the foliage had caused me almost to crawl coming in, the possibility of tree- snakes made me go out permanently doubled up, much to the amusement of my guide, but to my painful discomfort. On our way back in the car he told me a. remarkable story, perhaps in an attempt to ease my mind after my frightening experience of the jungle path. It happened in Yucatan where he had been on one of his hunting expeditions. He had made the journey by train, and on the return a violent hurricane had stranded the train on a man-made embankment. They were there for a night and a day, and during that time the wildlife of the jungle, to escape the rising floods, took refuge on the embankment and gradually invaded the train. No one suffered harm from them; humans, beasts and reptiles were joined in a ONE-STOP SHOPPING FOR ALL YOUR HARDWARE AND BUILDING MATERIALS SERVING KEY WEST SINCE 1939 STRUNK LUMBER YARDP1NC» * ACE HARDHARE FREE DELIVERY KEY liyfEST TO BIG PINE KEY 296-9091 Mon.-Fri. 7 AM - 5 PM 120 Simonton St. Sat 7 AM - noon Page 26 — March 1987 — Solares HQ1 ISLAND LIQUORS $10.55 — $10.80 5390 U.S. I , STOCK ISLAND • 296-5004 Convenience Plus Drive-Thru Liquors • Beer • Wine • Mixes • Ice • Milk • Bread * EVERY DAY LOW PRICES • SUPER SAVINGS* $5.99 LITRE RACK (RUM«GIN«WHI$KEY«VODKA) CALLJ.N YOUR ORDER— YOU PONT HAVE TO LEAVE YOUR CAR! Come visit the friendly crew at Island Liquors — Your 1 Stop-Spot "Member United Buying Group We have an extensive selection of wine and champagnes Imported beers and unique gift selections (Open 8 a.m.-12 p.m. including Sundays) — DRIVE THRU OR WALK IN AND BROWSE — 5390 US-1 - Stock Island 296-5004 common fear which transcended their mutual hostility. When the storm ceased, the wildlife returned to its habitat, and the train continued on its way to Mexico City. My second adventure with Ladislaus was very different and had nothing to do with his hunting skills. He had told me much about pulque-shops. Pulque is a cheap and powerful alcoholic drink, so powerful that its distillation and sale were forbidden by the government, but that didn't stop the traffic, any more than Prohibition succeeded in the U.S.A. In the poorer quarters of the city, Ladislaus told me, there were numerous shops. "The poorer men couldn't stand their life without it." He also told me that it could actually be lethal, and next to some pulque-shops there was an undertaker's. Naturally, I wanted to see a pulque-shop but Ladislaus didn't think it would be wise for me to be seen in or near one; I would be regarded with such suspicion that it might be dangerous. But then he had an alternative and a very exciting idea. He knew a place some miles out of the city, in a jungle-clearing, where were grown the plants from which pulque was made and where the drink was distilled. Of course, the illicit place was highly secret, but Ladislaus, who knew the owner, thought he might get me permission to see it. Again we set out in the car. The road was quite good, but gradually the houses a collection ol line • contemporary women's clothing "~ - 'next to the Foaarty House 296-7284" & COMPUTER CO, PC MAGAZINE EDITOR'S CHOICE 20 MEG AT Compatible $2665 (8 limes faster than a PC) Models Available up to 250 MEG SWEDA CASH REGISTERS Basic Models lo Inventory Control $695 8 Up PRINTERS Leases Available On-site service Floppy Disks Always 95C ADD A 20 MEG HARD DISK TO YOUR COMPUTER ...ONLY $695! Software-Try Before You Buy COMPUTER PAPER 1IOO TRUMAH AVENUE • SALES • 296-6698 • SERVICE • along it thinned out until there were none, and there was very little traffic. We were in jungle country. I was left in the car while Ladislaus disappeared to the pulque farm,.. Saying that he might be some time, he left so quickly that I didn't have a chance to ask him about a curious phenomenon. In this houseless district, right opposite to where Ladislaus had disappeared, there was a strange construction, and apparently a fairly new one. It was a large, solidly-walled enclosure, and facing the road were two heavy closed doors with two big metal handle-knockers on them. There was no indication of the nature or purpose of the place, and there was no sound or sign of life. Alone as I was, the silence became eerie. I longed for some traffic on the road; there was none. Gradually my curiosity overcame my uneasiness and I crossed the road and listened for some sound of life inside the walls; there was none. Almost without meaning to do so I tentatively used the knocker. The doors began to open, but without any apparent human agency. Inside there was a beautiful, tiled yard in the center of which a lovely fountain played. Beyond the yard were several one-story houses and huts, but no sign of life. I began to make a timorous entrance to look for some when I was startled by a shout behind me. It was Ladislaus beckoning me wildly. I hurried back to him as the doors slowly closed behind me. I had been entering the Leper Colony. As we drove back to the city — Ladislaus had failed to get permission for his English friend to see the pulque farm — • he told me the story of the leper colony. It used to be housed in a large building in the heart of the city, but that had been thought to be bad for the tourist trade and so the new one had been built in an isolated area. The irony was that the original building had been given, in a gesture of gratitude and admiration, to Diego Rivera, the noted muralist, and he had turned it into a hotel. Mention of Rivera reminded me that it was he who had persuaded the government to allow Trotsky to find shelter in Mexico, and I had the idea of trying to get an interview with him for the BBC — Ladislaus, of course, knew where he stayed — but he was so strongly protected that my out-of-the-blue request was firmly denied. His loyal guardians couldn't prevent his assassination the following year. Ladislaus Paray did much to make my July, 1939, visit to Mexico City memorable. When I returned there in February, 1969, to give a lecture, I failed to-find him. It was his 68th year. Perhaps the jungle had finally claimed the hunter. Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 27 Dine on t h ^ Ocean a t SOUTH BEACH LL YOU CAN EA" DINNER BUFFET 5-9 PM INCLUDES LOCAL FISH • BABY BACK RIBS ROAST CHICKEN • ROAST PORK * ROAST BEEF CONCH CHOWDER • CONCH FRITTERS 5 HOT VEGETABLES FEATURING ALL YOU CAN EAT STEAMED SHRIMP Bacon Home Fries Grits Chipped Beef Gravy Biscuits Fresh Fruit Mix Coffee FULL SALAD BAR AND DESSERT BAR VARIOUS FRESH BREADS COFFEE, TEA OR SODAS ONLY $11.95 EARLY BIRD SPECIAL S9.95 • 5-6 PM DAILY — BREAKFAST BUFFET Scrambled Eggs French Toast Corned Beef Hash Blueberry Muffins Prunes Orange Juice $5.74 Sausage Hot Cakes Baked Apples Sausage Gravy Rolls Pineapple Chunks Tea BREAKFAST BUFFET: 8-11 AM Mon.-Sat. • 8-2 PM Sun. OPEN 6 AM - 9 PM DAILY WE ALSO SERVE LUNCH 1405 Duval Street We accept VISA, MasterCard 294-2727 Page 28 — March 1987 — Solares Hill NIGHTLY POST TIME 8:00 PM SATURDAY MATINEE 1:15 PM BERENSON'S KEY WEST KENNEL CLUB "Southernmost Track in the U.SA." Stock Island Phone: 294-9517 @ ITALIAN SPECIALTIES SIDEWALK CAFE SELECTION OF BEER & WINE Sun.-Sat HAM to 10 PM • Sun.-Mun. 1J AM to 5 PM 628 Duval Street ' - 296-76% Island City HOUSE "A Unique Place to Stay" 411 WILLIAM STREET UN OLD KEY WEST) 294-5702 WHEN ROCK FEVER STRIKES ... CALL Budget *IJ%a a. Stringing wire Luis De La Haba, adept in a number of languages, humorous and a marvelous teller of long, intricate, bawdy stories. With him, and easily as fast in the language department, was a quiet, witty lady from Canada, Chris McGill. Chris, wearing glasses and taking the stance, at times, of a schoolmarm, jvas a prize reporter for the AP for many years. They were joined by novice writers, new in the Miami AP fold, and a few seasoned veterans who stood in when Luis or Chris were out of the city. Sloppy's bar, and places like the old Gate Bar (now the Plantation) and the Brown Derby (now the Green Parrot), where servicemen liked to cop a beer and a smoke and cruise the passing parade, were favored places for the news-gathering at the beach. hawks. Gossip and rumor, and even some "hard news" leaked copiously from the beery innards of the saloons. "You have to keep in touch with the enlisted," Luis used to say; "they're on the line, not the officers." Between the AP, the UPI, the major newspapers who'd sent writers and photographers here, it was a glorious few weeks as Key West basked in the intense glare of worldwide publicity. This little defenseless island faced, only 90 miles from its sun and sand, the Russian bear's ICBMs that could mount nuclear warheads. Ah, what brave souls on that small spit of an island, they said. After Kennedy had eyeballed the Russians and made them blink, the offending missiles were soon packed in cotton and nailed into their long, bulky wooden crates, looking more like caskets than bombs, and loaded aboard Polish freighters for the long voyage home. On a cold and early wintry day in November, the military nabobs at the Key West naval base did their PR thing, calling in reporters and film guys, stills and movies, and asked if they'd like a ride in a Navy reconnaissance aircraft which would overfly the Polish vessels as they steamed east in the Florida Straits with their lethal cargo lashed on the decks. The answer was a resounding "yes." The Navy aircraft was not built for comfort or joy riding. Huge and barnlike inside, there was bay area in the belly where the photogs could shoot pictures to their hearts' delight. The only heat in the damn plane was in the crew's section, forward. Among those shivering on the flight were the AP, UPI stringers like George Faraldo, manager of the airport at Key West, and the Miami Herald's reporter from Key West, Jacqueline Janecek, and many more. It rocked and bucketed in the air as the pilot veered back and forth in a figure-8 pattern, about 500 feet above the cargo ships. After sunset, the air colder and windier, the Navy plane set down at Homestead AFB. The Key West reporters, pinched and hungry, made their way back down the Keys in a Greyhound bus and only days later the Army trucks and soldiers slowly disappeared, leaving the locals with much to talk about as they resumed their old, slow, pokey manner of living. I Key West —- Real Estate Boom town Blessing For Some, No Room At The End For Others by-Bill Anderson (The author is Key West Correspondent for the New York Times, in which portions of this article recently appeared.) KEY WEST — This 12 square mile subtropical island of 28,000 inhabitants, whose laid-back lifestyles help it attract two million visitors a year, has become one of the country's hottest real estate markets. The quiet of this one-time backwater of bicycle traffic in small lanes and narrow, streets and the offshore swishing sound of sailboats is pierced these days by the din of construction cranes and trucks, backhoes, chain saws and hammers as developers, builders, construction workers, renovators, and architects have become the money- making force of this tiny island that once was dominated by ship salvagers, cigar makers, fishermen, and the U.S. Navy. A commercial builder from oil-depressed Houston, Texas, who recently visited Key West, waxed enthusiastic about the welcome sight of budding cranes, which he lamented had become av> jxtinct construction species back home in Texas. Real estate values here have soared to an all time high for those who are affluent enough ""tcrbuy. And-buy they-do. The Monroe County Recording Office reports that recordings of sales and other real estate transactions have climbed to more than 1,000 a week. Recent ones include the September 1986 purchase of almost 100 acres of the U.S. Navy's historic Truman Annex including President Harry Truman's "Little White House" by Maine-and-Massachusetts developer Pritam Singh for $17.25 million (Singh now confides he believes the value is closer to $70 million); the sale of designer Calvin Klein's house for more than $400,000; one of Broadway composer- lyricist Jerry Herman's houses bringing $435,000, with another price tagged at $585,000; the famous old La Concha Hotel built in 1925 undergoing a $20 million renovation to join Key West's other premier hotels of The Pier House, Casa Marina, and The Reach with winter rates of $200 and upwards a night. In recent years real estate values have become so gentrified that some Key Westers fear the island may have passed into a period when only the privileged few can afford to buy a house or even rent one. It wasn't always that way on this coral island that's the southernmost point in the continental U.S. and only 90 miles from Havana. When Ernest Hemingway stepped off the P&O ferry from Havana in 1928 to take up residence and finish his novel A Farewell to Arms, he easily rented an apartment, then a house and three years later bought a Creole mansion built in the 1870's on Whitehead Street for $8,000. After his death it went to the highest bidder in 1963 for $80,000 and today would handily bring in excess of $1 million. Playwright Tennessee Williams Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 33 There are legends; then there is Cavanagh's. Start with the size: 18,000 sq. feet — that's 10 times the size of most houses! Next, imagine the space packed with incredible imports found on buying trips to over 30 countries!-** Antiques, ^ clothing, rattan, upholstered sofas & chairs, jewelry, hats & scarves, baskets, Oriental lacquered furniture, porcelains, brass & copper pots, rugs, . . . and more! Without a doubt, Cavanagh's is the largest, most intriguing place anywhere in Key West. mtonaqks 520 Front St. Key West 296-3343 Open 7 days We ship focal Qouhmst fifcop Platters Cheese, Smoked fish, Meats International Selection of.. Gourmet foods, Candy Wine., 'Beer, Pasta SandtvirtiE-s Baked Goods Jemj and Linda Stein 'Proprietors 3722 N. JCey West, ftbrida 33040 296-6565 •«.-»-*.-gT^7g7T^1.-^-^-»•-»• f ^ - 1 , - 1 . 1.-V1. 1. 'J. ,T- •̂ .-TL- Western Union Sends Money . In a Hurry Don't Worry III .ill IJooili UNITED PARCEL SERVICE Private Mailboxes / Money Orders / Passport Photos Notary / Rubber Stamps / Keys / Laminating Carpet Cleaner Rental / Xerox Copies / Packaging Zap Mail / Gift Wrapping / Boxes / Stamps ONE DAY AIR EXPRESS SERVICE 294-9952 Open 9-6 Monday-Friday / Saturday 10-2 819 Peacock Plaza (Searstown) (Near the Cinema Four) THE fASJEST WAY TO SEND MONEY, \ U N ! O % N Page 34 — March 1987 — Solares Hill GOURMET FOODS TOGO — HEAT & SERVE — Chicken Cordon Bleu Stuffed Pork Chops Marinated Pork (Lechon) Beef or Chicken Ka-Bobs Marinated Chicken (Fricasse) Meat Balls Stuffed Eggplants or Zucchini Ham Salad Chicken Salad Macaroni & Bean Salad Macaroni & Veggie Salad — Low Cal Foods — MEATSPADROHS 916 KENNEDY DRIVE ® 296-9732 FOR YOUR 1987PARTIES We make custom Party Platters Strictly homemade fresh salads CALL IN YOUR ORDER 296-9732 We Do Not Imitate Anyone "We Do It Our Way!" purchased his Duncan Street house in 1950, two years after he first visited the island, and paid $27,500. Today it is listed for $205,000. Wilhelmina Harvey, a fourth generation Conch or native Key Wester who recently served six years as a commissioner and Mayor of Monroe County, recalls buying two houses in the city's Old Town or historic district in 1939 — one small doll-like house for $500 and the other for $5,000. Two years ago the $500 one sold for $62,500 and in 1986 the $5,000 went for $197,500. While in office Harvey endeavored unsuccessfully to obtain government grants and loans for affordable housing for all the Keys. She still believes it should be a top priority for Key West. "If we don't get affordable housing, Key West is going to be a spot only for the wealthy and the indigent. There will be no in-between," she predicts. Of the almost 3,000 acres zoned as developable by the city of Key West, it's estimated that five-sixths are already built on. The remaining 573 acres include the ecologically sensitive salt ponds and the recently purchased Truman Annex. Small unimproved residential lots, here can cost up to $50,000. The cost of renovation or new construction in Key West is between $80 and $100 a square foot, compared with about $60 on the Florida mainland. These costs are high...because.of-a- shortage of expert labor, plus building materials that can run 30 to 40 percent more than on the mainland. From 1875 until after the turn of the century, Key West was the most populous and affluent city in Florida. Cigar manufacturing was employing 8,000 persons, and employers were buying entire blocks on which to build homes for their workers, a practice that soon may have to be emulated by today's larger employers. Simultaneously, sponge diving was at an all time high. Henry Flagler was building his Overseas Railroad he hoped would make Key West the terminus of shipping with the newly built Panama Canal, with other Caribbean and South American shipping ending up here, as well as passengers ferried by ship between Havana and the Key West terminal. Pineapple growing had become a cash crop for the Keys. But soon labor problems beset the cigar industry and most of it moved to Tampa; the manufacture of salt from the island's salt ponds, proved unfeasible; sponging was taken over by the Greeks in Tarpon Springs who were using advanced diving equipment for harvests; cheap Cuban pineapples decimated the Keys' production; and the 1935 hurricane that hit the Upper Keys finished off Flagler's already bankrupt railroad. So, in 1934, while Ernest Hemingway was making more money writing in Key West than he ever had, the city went bankrupt and most Key Westers were on the Federal dole. Then, in the 1960's and 1970's* tourism began to take off. Today, there are some two million visitors a year. During the first quarter of 1986 more than $17 million was generated by Key West hotel rooms alone. Our 9th Banner Year Featuring New American Cuisine Fresh Local Seafood HOURS Serving 'til 2 am . 900-9Q4 DUVAL • .296-5558" Today 25 percent of the island's total work force is employed in the tourist industry where typical wages are between $5 and $6 'an hour. . Until the 1980's these young seasonal workers would spend their winters here and go north for the summer. They could rent unrenovated, reasonably priced apartments and houses in the convenient Old Town area. But slowly most of these dwellings have been bought up, restored and renovated and little affordable is left in an area where workers could walk or bicycle to work while enjoying the area's ambiance. In 1974 New York realtor Clay McDaniel moved to Key West to sell property. "It was the year the real estate explosion started," he says. "I sold 50 houses in the first twelve months as the New York invasion began," adding that most of the houses were then in the $25,000 to $50,000 range. Today these are the houses which can demand hundreds of thousands of dollars and make up a treasure of 19th Century frame structures probably unmatched in any other American city. They vary from mansions to cottages and include Greek and Roman Classic Revival, Victorian, Queen Anne, Creole, and shotgun architectures. Together they comprise what has come to be known as "Conch houses." But treasures of architecture do not result in affordable housing, particularly for most workers in the tourist industry. Although prime winter seasonal rates can bring rentals for furnished houses with all amenities including swimming pool up to $2,000 a week, year-round rentals for unfurnished houses can be obtained for $600 to $700 a month. However, advance rent for the first and last months, a half-month's rent as security and deposits on utilities can bring the move-in cost to about $2,000. In addition, most seasonal workers prefer to summer on Cape Cod, in the Long Island Hamptons, or in Maine. Some businessmen who make their livelihoods here from the tourist industry are worried about the lack of affordable housing. So is Tom Wilson, Key West's assistant city planning director. "Everything is in chaos," Wilson says. "If we have severe labor shortages, the service for instance at hotels and restaurants might get poor because we're not able to house enough labor force. And of course this could affect the tourist industry." Wilson notes that some hotels are planning to provide affordable housing in the future but points out that most of it will be for higher paid personnel such as chefs, management and accountants. Pritam Singh, the developer who bought the Truman Annex and was expected to close on the property in mid-January, has taken advantage of the city's new inclusionary zoning and agreed to build 95 affordable housing units along with 175 hotel units and 255 more expensive residential accommodations on the Annex. He expects to complete the $250 million development in five to six years. According to Tom Wilson one thing that sold Singh on affordable housing was to give himself a competitive advantage by ,having his own, housing for personnel. Wilson points out that Singh could probably lease some of it out to the nearby Pier House and La Concha hotels. "Having your own housing will definitely be an advantage in the future," Wilson says. Wilson concludes that some innovative, even dramatic, solutions to affordable housing for workers is going to be necessary. Among, his suggestions are a work-study winter season here for college students interested in the hotel-and- restaurant field, or the use of a work force of immigrants now living in the Miami area and looking for jobs who could move to nearby but less costly Stock Island. But for some Key Westers who happily sold their houses originally costing below $10,000 for perhaps five times that amount Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 35 a few years ago and relocated elsewhere, such as in Ocala or Tampa, and now want to return to the island, it's a different matter. Today their original homes in Key West could cost upwards of $200,000. For most such Conchs homesick for their native Key West, the new-found wealth was one way out but today is no way back. Barring a dramatic solution to the affordable housing shortfall, however, City Commissioner George Halloran, himself a builder, sees no end in sight to the booming real estate market here. "Key West seems to be recession-proof," he says. "Here in the 1980's people are still willing to come and invest in real estate. There are only so many houses left, and it's still very profitable to build here." Ill f c You don }t have to get used to being in pain..." 7 V Call the Massage Therapy Center for Pain Relief Alternatives. Arnold L Hermelin, LMT, Director (305) 2Q4-82OI/333^2 Simonton, Key West, FL 33040 MEMBER AMTA.ESMTA, FLORIDA LICft MMo 4 Page 36—March 1987 — Solares Hfll Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 37 DESIGNS Fine Furniture and Cabinetry Wifliam Palmer 1026 TRUMAN AVENUE KEY WEST, FLORIDA 33040 RES. (305) 294-5811 (ONGOING EVENTS) . Monroe County Fair, Daily through March 12. St^O^reUCAW 515DUVAL5TP£ET KEY WEST. FLORIDA 33040 305 294-540& N W SERVICE FROM KIT WEST TO BIG PINE Zhe ?ur Zailor Mobile Grooming Salon Ml breed Grooming At Your Door Licensed & Insured Carolic Lambrighl 294-3755 ARTWORKS • Key West Art Center - Front St. Open Mon.-Sat. 10 AM-5 PM, Sun. 11 AM-4PM: March 1-14 - Watercolors by Tony Van Hasselt. March 15-28 - Paintings by Irma Quigley. original designs for women 610 D u v a l S t r B e t O l d ^ ^ GQLD [JEWELERS NOW OPEN at 335 Duval (Duval Walk) 294-1243 COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD THE QUALITY AND SERVICE YOU EXPECT SOUTHARD STREETH P R 294-H41 294-8419 Wholesale Retail OLD ISLAND Then Ait For You and The ACIVIIt All ror T-> Waterfront Nightmare • at trie Alterations « Tailoring 10 Key Lime Square Key West Kari S. Hjerpe Bette Mortimore HOURS Mon. 10-5 Thurs. 10-5 Tues. 10-5 Fri. 10-6 Wed. 10-5 Sat. 10-1 294-1334 A-440 Piano Building Pinsetting Restringing Action Regulation Tuning Boston • Key West We Move Pianos Insured 900 Southard St. 294-9141 Center, 8:30 PM, March Center, £aB&3&fiK& at Restoration Mallory Square, ?94t,°d island Foundation's Free "Members Only" Party - In the Gardens oHhe Wrecker's Museum, 322 Duval St 6 PM-8PM, March 28. New members welcome. Call 294-9501 tor info nndereila - by me Tampa Ballet, at 8:00 PM, March 29. Call Fuzzy's Shoe Repair & Tailoring PEC ING IN FOOTWEAR AND ALTERATION OF CLOTH R. Walton Owner 2 Petronia Street i Elizabeth & Simonton Hours 9 AM til ? - rmirirM-»M^Mi mil PROFESSI°^SHUTTER H DEVRIES "'STAUCH J S * L THEATRE • Nunsense - reopens by popular demand at The Red Barn Theatre, 8:30 PM Curtain, March 4-22. Call 296-9911 for reservations. Better hurry! SPRING BABY BOOM Available baby Parakeets Lovebirds, Conures and one African Grey Hand Raising is our Specially 517 Fleming Strop; Key Wos! • 295-9S90 RUBBISH 507 SOUTHARD ST. KEY WEST V •Counseling. Testing. Information- • Education • Referral • 296-BUTT GARYCENTONZ1 JiiiiiiL A-zalea Drive Tnii i GARY 7 ^"" PLUMBING Key West, Florida 33C'--." Virgii 901-B Duval Street Sonia Green (305) 294-8302 &**• ( J 5 DAWN TREADER 38'Blue Water Cutter 294-8557 Personal Charters Hour • Day • Week • Night S^Sfi CommunityD rcode • F ' o r ' d a Key s Williams Fine Arts Ce> ' n n e s s e e March 26, Noon-6:3oi P M " k i s ( a n d ' " Health Fair "R7 I I •' Church & The B ^ ; : ^ T f e d Mefhodist FAMILY FUN : March 4 - Cat BaJlou St., 7 a n d BOATS Of the Florida Keys "THE INFLATABLE EXPERTS' 1361 Overseas Hwy. • Marathon, Florida 33050 Call • 743-7085 Key Way Discount Beverage 1101 Eaton St. Key West 294-5480 Monday - Saturday 9:30 - 7:00 Sunday 12:00 - 5:00 Best Prices In Town Packy is here! •» We'll ship your parcels econon— . UPS or BAA. Pro Photo 335 Duval St Duval Walk 294-9331 Packy*— the Shipper w I- rage 38 — Marcn iy»7 — soiares urn ** Alec Guinness Film Festival by The Friends of the Library^Key 'West by Betsy Johns _^ <*•*•** The Friends of the Library, Key West, are sponsoring an Alec Guinness Film Festival at the May Hill Russell Monroe County Library, 700 Fleming St. on six consecutive Wednesday evenings beginning March 11. With the publication recently of the new Guinness autobiography, Blessings in Disguise, much new enthusiasm has been stirred up in reading about this remarkable actor, and in the many recent showings of his old films on TV. We now discover he not only is a great actor but an enormously charming raconteur as well. This is a trip in nostalgia for those of us who grew up on his many hilarious pictures, and will be a delightful introduction for younger people to really clever, witty movies and to a warm, engaging actor. On the first Wednesday evening, March 11, Arnold Sungaard will review the autobiography, Blessings in Disguise. Sungaard is a noted playwright and librettist. He is a great admirer of Alec Guinness and will review this book with enthusiasm. There will then be shown a 28 minute documentary, The Many Roles of Alec Guinness from "The Art of Film Series" with scenes from various films. Together this should prove a splendid introduction. Alec Guinness On the following Wednesday evenings will be shown five feature-length Guinness films. Following is the scedule for the six evenings and all will begin at 7 PM. MARCH 11: Review of Blessings in Disguise by Arnold Sungaard; the documentary The Many Roles of Alec Guinness, MARCH 18: The Man in the White Suit (1952) - A young laboratory assistant invents an indestructible stain-resistant fabric and antagonizes both management and labor when he tries to put it on the market. Ruthlessly funny. MARCH 25: Our Man in Havana (I960) - Guileless political innocent is recruited by British Intelligence. A nimble spoof of spy networks. APRIL 1: Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) - A draper's assistant with rare ingenuity kills the dozen relatives standing between him and dukedom. Guinness plays 8 different parts in this comedy. APRIL 8: The Horse's Mouth (1958) - Circumstances force Gully Jimson, the down-and-out artist hero, to fight for his soul. A classic eccentric and serious painter, Jimson cajoles, coerces, and hood- winks for the one thing he really believes in — his art. APRIL 15: The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) - A meek, bowler-hatted bank clerk robs his employer of a million pounds' worth of gold bullion. The scheming for the deed with his unlikely cohorts is half the fun. After a long and distinguished career including Academy Awards for both acting and screenplay writing, and a knighthood, Sir Alec Guinness, now 72 years old, will be honored at this year's tribute of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, a benefit scheduled for this April 27 at Avery Fisher Hall. Perhaps a film festival at Key West's pink library will be our way of honoring this modest, self-effacing actor (an attitude so unusual among actors as to be almost unique) who has given us so much splendid entertainment through the years. These programs are free and open to the public, and the Friends invite all to come and enjoy these light-hearted evenings. Soiares Hill — March 1987 — Page 39 Key West High School ADULT EDUCATION COURSE OFFERINGS TERM IIS» REGISTRATION - IVIARCH 9/10, \\, 12,1987 COURSE CODE ADULT BASIC EDUCATION DATE FEE ROOM # INSTRUCTOR TIME 9900000 9900010 9900020 1501330 2106310 2100310 0104320 0201300 0708300 0708310 0708310 1900300 1001310 1205340 2002310 ARR0900 AER0990 AC0000! EERO000 EEROO00 COE0990 HCP0992 HEV0210 OFT0105 MTROI00 BCT0200 Adult Basig/ESL General Ed. Promotion • G.E.D. Prep. ADULT GENERAL EDUCATION Aerobics American Government American History Art Computer Programming Conversational Spanish Conv. Spanish II Conv. Spanish 1 & If Drivers Training English I-IV General Math/Algebra General Science ADULT VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Auto Body Repair Auto Mechanics Basic Bookkeeping Electrical Tech. Electrical Tech. Office Skills Training Nursing Assisting Sewing Typing Welding Woodworking COMMUNITY SCHOOL T/Th T/Th M / W M/W/F M / W M/W T/Th T/Th T/Th Wed. Thurs. M / W M / W T/Th M/W M / W M / W M / W M-F. M-Th M-Th. M/W/Sat M / W M / W M / W M / W N/C N/C N/C SI3 S13 $13 S13 S13 S13 S13 $13 $13 $13 $13 $13 $13 $13 $13 S13 S13 SI3 $18 $13 $13 $13 S13 J-27 J-31 J-31 Douglass J-25 J-25 E-6 J-5 J-23 J-23 J-I3 J-35 D-3 J-32 J-26 V-103 V-102 J-13 Truman Truman Truman J-30 B-7 J-16 Welding E-7 Davis/Walker TBA Scollo Webster Battjes Battjes Batties Spencer Kelly Kelly Puig McKell Lilly Rodger TBA Aulozzi Higgs Sandifer Turner Turner Freeman, F. Mills Cooper Freeman, B. Carey Stern 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 6-8 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 3:30-6:30 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 8-11 AM 7-10 PM 1-4 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM 7-10 PM Karate T/F 520 Truman Fairbanks 6:30-9:30 PM Term IJ( Registration will be March 9,10, II, S !2,1987, from 7 to 9 PM nightly in the J-Wing Auditorium at Key West High School. Most classes will begin March 16,1987 and end June 2,1987. All students working towards a high school diploma are reqistered FREE. ALL PROGRAMS ARE OPEN TO STUDENTS WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE, COLOR, SEX, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, OR HANDICAP. For information call 294-5212, Ext. 263 or;264,«Key West High School,:,2JQ0.FlaglercAv6nue, J fit VEST fltOM SUN LOViftS TO PUN IOVSS1S, joqqers to jokers, from Keg West to Marathon, our three publications are seen and read by every major buying group in the Hey UUest oreo. SOLflR€S HILL — circulation 10,000 monthly, €NT€RTfllNM€NT — circulation 13,000 monthly, SOLRR6S HILL WfllKING & BIKING GU!D€ - circulation 25,000. Five times a year. If we've got your number, call ours at 294-3602. Searching for the Pearle Raw sewage, hard drugs and heroics in our most infamous trailer park by Frank Kaiser Mike Grodzinski doesn't look like a hero. His grey suit coat and sky blue tie don't go well with the too-short brown pants. And those shoes. There are small blotches of white paint all over them. But the 33-year-old Pearle Trailer Park resident isn't standing here in front of half a hundred Stock Island residents to win a beauty contest. He's organizing against drugs.- "Remember. Call the sheriff with the dope buyer's license plate number. If you see the driver of a company truck buying, call the company. Red stickers mean Navy. Get the plate number and call the base. Together, we can stop this!" This man means business. Grodzinski is a portrait in righteous indignation. He has been shot at. His cats have been killed. His three kids can't play in their own neighborhood, what with the prostitutes and drug pushers and all — not to mention the rats and raw sewage. And, to top it off, just yesterday someone tossed yet another rock through a window in his family's mobile home. So many of his windows have been broken he now replaces them with unbreakable Plexiglass. Crack cocaine has touched off a dirty little war out there and Grodzinski's home is directly on the front line. PIG HEAVEN The first five years the Grodzinski family lived at Pearle were relatively peaceful. His three children played with their pets in the back yard and biked the trailer park streets, safe and carefree.- Neighbors, mostly Cuban Marielitos, were quiet but friendly. And, although the land belonged to the park, the mobile homes were resident- owned; folks put pride into them. Then, two years ago, Mike Grodzinski's world went to hell. First, the trailer park manager, Billy Harper, quit. One of the owners, Michael A. Padron, Jr., took over as manager and, according to Grodzinski, all maintenance and services stopped dead. Soon raw sewage dried under the sun as broken and aged sewer pipes were left open and unrepaired. Untended streets took on the look of a battle zone with axle-breaking ruts and bathtub-sized holes. Trash and debris piled up. Within weeks, Pearle was the local Club Med of Ratdom. To cocaine dealers, however, Pearle must have looked like pig heaven. The trailer park's convenient location just off Route 1 and its obvious lack of services provided Miami drug distributors with a new hassle-free and efficient retail outlet for their newest and deadliest product: crack cocaine. Pearle soon became the southernmost drive-in drug market where "rocks" of the then new super-addictive drug could be had for $10. Sex with young female addicts was blatantly available for only a few dollars more. As the dealers moved in, some trailer owners grew frightened and left, selling their units for as little as $1,000. Olb^v mobile homes simply were abandoned when the owners fell behind in land rent, unable to see any point in keeping up. As these people left, pushers and prostitites replaced them. THE LEAP INTO HELL To hear Jack Lacombe tell it, Pearle Trailer Park went from heaven to hell in a matter of months. Lacombe, 79, has lived in Pearle Trailer Park since 1970. "It was a lovely place back then," the retired Great Lakes pilot recalls. "The roads were graded, repairs were taken care of immediately. And if anyone did anything illegal, they were out. Like that!" Today Lacombe sleeps with a pistol close by his bed. "Most of the people here now are drug pushers or thieves or pimps or prostitutes," he says matter-of-factly. "Padron makes no effort to clean the place up. Call him about the crime here and he tells you to call the sheriff, then hangs up. I believe he'd like to see this place burn down." Grodzinski agrees. "Marieta Capps (the former owner/manager of Pearle, now Marieta Kaszyk) ran a good park. I think when Padron bought the place he planned to get rid of the trailers any way he could. With the mobile homes gone, he'd make big money building condos here in conjunction with the development of the golf course across the street." Key West Gonch ack Jewelry Genim FRONT ORIGINAL DESIGNS hand crafted in Key West 294-7092 Openeveiyday 10-4 • VISA,MC,AMEX *Solare§ p l l — March (Michael Padron chose not to be interviewed for this article; nor would he or any other officer of Cayo Investments, the corporation which owns Pearle Trailer Park, appear when invited to meet with US 1 Horneowners Association, a group representiag,Pearle homeowners.) Grodzinski continues, "He could have done it, too. But no one*TX>tin|ed on Florida Statute 723." " l ^ - ^ Chapter 723 of Florida Statutes" — known as the Florida Mobile Home Act — recognizes that mobile home ownership on rented land is a kind of hybrid tenancy! Since mobile homes are often anything but mobile, the law protects the home owners from being evicted for no legal reason without time and compensation. Says Harry McCluskey, owner of a barber shop located within Pearle, "Most of these trailers are 40 years old. There's no way they can be moved without falling apart." The Act stops any park owner wishing arbitrarily to close down his park from evicting anyone for 12 months after notice is served. If the park owner wants revised zoning, there must be a finding that appropriate space is available within a 50 mile radius to which the tenants can move. By spring of 1986, drugs and cocaine dominated the park. Long-time Pearle residents felt helpless as their neighborhood deteriorated. Then, one night last March while Grodzinski was sitting reading by his front window, a man stepped out of the shadows, drew a pistol and fired it six times into the air. "It was at that time I realized I could be killed," Grodzinski recalls. "That's when I got mad!" With park SAILOR ORTHOPEDIC F00TBE0 SANDALS Haunted by the High Price of European Sandals? EXPERIENCE OUR QUALITY, COMFORT & SAVINGS Satisfaction Guaranteed OPEN 7 DAYS 605 WHITEHEAD ST. Mon-Sat: 10-5« Sunday: 10-2 294-2627 Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 49 Page 48 — March 1987 — Solares Hill services non-existent and drug dealers corrupting the area, Grodzinski convinced a majority of residents to sign a petition demanding that the management remove the , growing piles of trash and debris and put the place right again. ^ .•-"-" Getting signatures" was no small task. Most residents are Cuban refugees who, .fresh from Castro's communism, view authority and paperwork with equal suspicion. But by this time gun shots were heard nightly, perhaps fired by disgruntled drug buyers to inhibit dealers' business. Residents were finding bullet holes in their homes and cars. The petition demanded the establishment of a 24-hour emergency number, speed bumps, posted speed signs and the removal of trash and debris. When Padron failed to act, Grodzinski started and, with the aid of Erol Vural of Legal Services of the Florida Keys, incorporated the homeowners association. PEARLE'S "POLICE PROBLEM" Across the park, Jack Lacombe would look out his window and see drugs being sold over the hood of his car. Night after night he'd chase the dealers away only to see them return moments later. Occasionally* in frustration, he'd call manager/owner Michael Padron but, according to Lacombe, Padron would do nothing to stop the criminals. Lacombe, whose trailer has been broken into three times within the year, recalls being told by park management that it's a police problem and that he should call the sheriff. "Trouble is," Lacombe says now, "when the sheriffs people come, the dealers scatter and disappear." Pearle's streets are ill-lit and hidden from public road surveillance. Multiple exits provide easy escape from authorities. Grodzinski recalls a mass arrest at Pearle in November. "Two abandoned trailers were busted. Maybe 20 people- Those people weren't paying rent, • had no electricity or water. Yet Padron never once came in to kick those people out. He never called the sheriffs department and told them, 'I want those people out of here!' He took no action, none at all." Now, Mike Grodzinski is a mild enough guy. A born-again Christian, he's a member of Stock Island's Baptist Temple. His children, John, George, and Allicia, attend school there. In contrast to the park outside, the Grodzinski home is clean, well-kept. Colorful stunt kites cover the living room ceiling, reminders of the days when Grodzinski flew kites at Smathers Beach for Heavenly Bodies Kite Store. Finances were tough for the family in those days so, when the wind softened, he'd fish from a small skiff, catching anything he could to keep the family in food. Today he's in the tropical fish business, sometimes diving on a huki rig to depths of 130 feet for brightly colored esoterics such as angels, rock beauties, bluehead wrasse, sponge crabs and small sharks which are sent, live, to collectors up north. Sherrie, his wife, is part American Indian. "I may be part Indian," she laughs, "but Mike is a full Polack." They've lived in this mobile home at Pearle for seven years and like Stock Island,. ''Its a good thing," says Sherrie "No one will buy our trailer the way this park is right now." After the first gun incident Grodzinski "got ticked and decided that something had to be done." He called the county code enforcement people, the electric department, plumbing department, the health department, the building department — citing appropriate violations to each. "The sewer system here is totally inadequate. Drain fields are clogged. They're not maintained so when they crack, salt water seeps in and, next thing you know, raw sewage is all over the ground." For months Grodzinski hounded-the county bureaucrats every chance he had. "The County Code Enforcement people were our biggest help," he remembers. "They really cared, but even they got frustrated by Padron's lack of response." Last election day Grodzinski spoke with Kirk Zuelch, whose job it is as State Attorney to enforce the Florida Mobile Home Act. "Was it possible," Grodzinski asked, "to bring nuisance charges, criminal negligence and other actions against Pearle management?" When I repeated the question to the State Attorney recently, he replied that his office had indeed filed a nuisance action two years ago against Pearle because of-the existing , poor health and sanitary conditions. The action was dropped when the Health Department declared that the place had been cleaned up. Zuelch is sympathetic, but realistic. "The difficulty is that you come in and say this park is a mess and the owner says, 'Fine! I don't have the money to clean it up so I'll close the park down.' That's not the answer. Not everyone there is a criminal. There's a law against shutting down the park when there's no place else for the residents to go. The drug dealers? They'd just move somewhere else close anyway." ANOTHER MIKE HEARD FROM Maybe Grodzinski is overreacting. Mike Schuster, 50, a house painter and Pearle resident of four years, thinks so. Schuster's home, too, has been burglarized; he too owned a gun for a while. But he sees his residential future at Pearle, and he has backed up his'convictions by building a deck and otherwise spending money to make long-term improvements to his home. "Get rid of the drugs and everything will be fine," Schuster says. He feels that the drug problem is indeed a police problem. "A community problem, too. These girls around here aren't hookers. They're coke whores earning $200-$300 a day yet they don't have enough money for even a donut" Citing his $120 a month rent and free cable TV, Schuster says, "Padron is fair. Mike Grodzinski is antagonistic. He won't negotiate on anything. Padron's got problems, too." Detective Ben Lowe of the sheriffs office agrees. "I think the park owner is concerned. He has problems, trailers there that belong to phantoms. You can't haul a trailer out when no one knows who the owner is. You can't do much of anything." The fact remains that drugs and prostitution continue to run riot at Pearle. Throughout the summer and fall, Grodzinski shakes the bureaucratic bushes looking for help. In the meantime, he and his family witness drug deals day and night. They see and attempt to help young runaways from getting hooked and turning to prostitution. Two commit suicide, another dies by drug overdose. Sherrie is constantly propositioned by unknowing Johns, dealers cut crack cocaine on the Grodzinski's car, prostitutes even have sex on its hood. Strangers urinate on his house, break his sewer and water pipes, yet calls to park management get only the response that "it's your problem." Across the park, Harry McCluskey's customers have difficulty getting through a babble of prostitutes and crack dealers to get a haircut. McCluskey's business drops dramatically. Jack Lacombe's daughter is frightened even to enter the park to pick up her dad for dinner. In the meantime retail stores on Stock Island and Key West post signs stating: NO CHECKS CASHED FOR PEARLE TRAILER PARK RESIDENTS. The situation is grim. "Everyone now has a gun here," claims Grodzinski. "Even the little old black lady across the street has a .38. She's almost 70, and on at least one night she came out with gun in lhand to shield her grandson from about 20 dope dealers hanging around in front." Fear pushes Grodzinski to completely change the rooms around in his home. Today anyone breaking in must go through his bedroom before they can reach his children. "I always sleep with a shotgun beside the bed now," he says. "On any given night I could get a knife in my back or get blown away. That would be the end of it. God is really my protection." LOCAL GLITTERATI INVOLVED By December, the J.A.I.L. Unit alone had made some 40 drug arrests within Pearle Trailer Park. It seems to Grodzinski that the minute one pusher is arrested another fills his place; nothing even dents the problem. Exasperated, he calls a town meeting for December 7th. About 60 Stock Island residents show up at the Baptist Temple, all there to let off steam. And on the dais are Sheriff Billy Freeman, County Commissioner Genie Lytton and County Mayor Jerry Hernandez, State Attorney Zuelch, and State Representative Ron Saunders. Other law enforcement officers and prosecutors listen intently from the audience as Mike Grodzinski tells everyone that he's fed up, and why. Other Stock Island residents speak out, complaining about the crack cocaine problem in their trailer parks. But everyone knows that Pearle is the focus of this problem. In a fiery speech, Legal Services' Erol Vural states that Pearle is a "human cesspool which degrades people. The owners of Pearle Trailer Park know what's going on at their park. We've told them. I propose that we do everything we can within the law to make them responsive." New Extended Hours Mon.-Sat. 10 AM to 8 PM Sun. 11 Am to 6 PM KEY WEST ISLAND K S T O R E NEW - USED - RARE BOOKS FOR READERS & COLLECTORS We have a - r.large selection of. unique Greeting Cards and Postcard*©<~. WE'LL ORDER ANY BOOK SPECIAL ORDERS GIVEN SPECIAL ATTENTION STORE IN KEY WEST VISIT OUR RARE BOOK ROOM 1st Editions - Many Signed Copies - Rare Hemingway,' Tennessee Williams, Many Others WE BUY BOOKS. WE ARE ALWAYS INTERESTED IN PURCHASING FINE LIBRARIES. 513 Fleming Street * 294-2904 PICK UP YOUR N.Y. TIMES AND WALL ST. JOURNAL HERE DAILY. Afterwards Grodzinski is despondent. Only three Pearle residents had attended the meeting; none of the Cuban community was there. Notably absent, too, are Padron or any of the park owners. And although each of the public officials there recognized the problems and spoke of reform, Grodzinski has heard it all before. Another meeting is set, this for January 12. Although Sheriff Freeman couldn't comment at the time, he already had instigated Operation Bell, and, since November 26, Ben Lowe and his men had been working undercover within the park. In the week following Grodzinski's town meeting, 26 drug arrests were made by the sheriffs department. On December 22, Mike and Sherrie, aLng with Harry McCluskey and two other Pearle residents filed a public nuisance law suit against Cayo Investments and its officers. Among the allegations put before Judge Gomez' court: "Numerous conditions exist at Pearle Trailer Court and have been permitted to exist at the park since January 1, 1982 by the defendants, which are injurious to public health and morals." After a short delay, Gomez issued an injunction to Pearle's owners and management to clean up the park. By the January 12th town meeting, bright lights and No Parking signs are up all along the McDonald Avenue side of Pearle Trailer Park. Inside the Baptist Temple, Stock Island residents now complain that the Pearle drug pushers are now moving to trailer parks all over the island. But no one can deny the many improvements made by county officials since that first meeting in December. "There are so many of the sheriff's police around," says one man, "that when I reported two suspicious characters yesterday, they turned out to be undercover officers!" Mike Grodzinski and I walk around Pearle about midnight the following Saturday evening. Seven of the abandoned trailers already have been removed. Others, their windows and doors nailed shut with 1 x 2s, seem destined for the same fate. Piles of trash which just one month before had attracted large rats are now gone. But the place is still a mess. We witness prostitution solicitations under the new lights as cars park in the middle of McDonald Avenue to negotiate. But for a Saturday night the drug trafficking is quiet. Real quiet for Pearle., This isn't the open and raucous drug market of two months ago, perhaps because most of the arrested drug dealers are now in jail, awaiting bail, trial, or sentencing. (See "Portrait of a Pearle Junkie," Solares Hill, February, 1987.) Grodzinski is still angry. He carries a large, inch-thick stick. And as we walk the still-rutted and dark interior streets of Pearle he muses on what will happen when the narcotraficantes get out from behind bars. Where will they go but back to Pearle? He feels trapped and sees Michael Padron as his jailer. Grodzinski has a lot of money invested in his trailer, yet it's worth maybe $1,000 as it sits now. He's stuck. Just as Jack Lacombe's stuck and Harry McCluskey and a whole lot of others are stuck here where mobile homes aren't mobile and people sleep uneasily with guns beside their beds. DO YOU NEED Employees or Employment? Let the new KEY WEST EMPLOYMENT SERVICE HELP! FAST! Call Rob 294-6301 508 Southard APUI JOURNAL OF MARITIME HERITAGE IBL1CATI0N Of THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE FOR MAHTME HERITAGE CONSERVATION Announcing a publication of national-international scope — launched from Key West, the Florida Keys. A dedicated crew from Key West and the Keys, the inspiration of our own rich maritime heritage, have inscribed die first volume of an enduring 'log* of our maritime world. SEAFARERS Journal is a new, quality offering for every' one who wants to know about, and help conserve our maritime heritage. . Many members of our production team, many contribu- tors, sponsors and advertisers, many of the contents of our Premier Issue rightly have root in Key West and the Florida Keys. We believe in SEAFARERS Journal. — R. Duncan Mathewson 111, Puffchrr — Windy Tucker, Managing EJtor — Ron Hudson, An Dfrectnr —Juliette E Bottoms, Production Mdndflcr — Michid Lcwti, Yachting Ecfcor GET YOUR COPY Use tfcis order form to order fours now. Seafarers mil also be available at choke locutions thru-out the Keys, 517.00 PEH SCFTWUM) EOTICN - POSITAB (2150 PEA KUCeOUND EOTON - TOSTPAJO SFKSM. EKC0UHT5 FOR LAKE OfWBS |aue_ Page 50 — March 1987 — Solares Hill Writers & Key West, 1987 by Dianne Donovan, Booic'Editor of The Chicago Tribune (The Writers & Key West Literary Seminar was sponsored by The Friends of the Monroe County Library, Key West, and funded in part by the Florida Endowment for the Humanities (a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities), Monroe County Tourist Development Council, The Miami Herald, the Ruffner Foundation, and Sunshine-Jr. Stores.) Key West: That particular pairing of words conjures for almost every American images based on fiction, fantasy, and film. For some it is Papa Hemingway, a fishing rod in one fist and a drink in the other, straddling this tropical paradise with one foot firmly planted in the Gulf Stream and the other hooked over a chair rung at Sloppy Joe's. For others it is the humid, palm- fringed, vaguely slow-motion world of Tennessee Williams, of lazy ceiling fans and white suits. But for those 500 persons who gathered on the island January 15-18 for the fifth annual Key West Literary Seminar & Tour, perhaps Helen Vendler best summed up the prevailing image when she referred, in a letter to project director Lynn Kaufelt, to "this uttermost shore as the site of symbolic imagination, where the American land mass tapers off to meet the sea and the sound of waves meets the syllables of words." Vendler, professor of English at Harvard University and poetry critic of The New Yorker magazine, was one of many distinguished critics, authors, poets, and scholars who came to dissect the island, its writers — past and present — and its mystique in a forum on "Writers & Key West." In the two-and-a-half-day period packed with panel discussions, parties, and literary tours, a certain element emerged — a clue, of sorts, to the writing community of Key West. Paradoxically, that unifying element was disparity. Not in the sense of dissension, but rather in the sense of innate differences, evidence perhaps that it was no accident that this gathering was called "Writers & Key West" rather than the more cohesive, even scholarly "The Writer & Key West"; for there is no "Key West writer," and one sensed, as participants talked about their work and their locale, that the friendly, talented people who make Key West their home — or home away from home — are the happier for that distinction. Columnist and critic Jane O'Reilly, who divides her time between New York and Key West, said that, while writers do get together in Key West, there is no longer a central gathering place. "We gather in small random groups," she said while participating in a panel titled "Key West Observed." She added, "What we have now in Ke^. West is a critical mass — writers bringing writers." In so saying, O'Reilly touched on an issue close to the hearts of many panelists —•• overcrowding on the island and the proliferation of writers. As Philip Caputo, Pulitzer Prize- winning journalist and best-selling author, said in his address, "Writer in Residence": "Termites, ants and other insects may wrote his friend Ernest Hemingway, saying, "It's a vacation paradise like no other in Florida. You ought to try it." And try it Hemingway did. By 1928 it was Hemingway who was urging Dos Philip Burton greets Jim McLernan as Sebastian Cabrera looks on. flourish in colonies, but writers suffer if they spend too much time in each others' company ... If writers surround themselves with too many other writers, inevitably they will begin writing for the other writers and not for their audience." Be that as it may, this "uttermost shore" has appealed to writers for more than a century, and much of the days' discussions revolved around the importance of "place" in the creative process and, more specifically, the importance of Key West for those who chose to live there. Bill Robertson, book editor of the Miami Herald, opened this year's seminar by drawing a metaphoric line from the Athens of Aeschylus to the Key West of Caputo. Athens, he said, was the first literary gathering place, the birthplace of dramatic tragedy and, thus, the ancestral home of modern literature. From the coffeehouses of 18th century London to the The Farm of the Transcendentalists in 19th century-New England, from Paris in the 1930s to San Francisco in the '50s, the importance of writers gathering together to share ideas and provide artistic support has been apparent, Robertson said. Indeed, Key West itself is not a new discovery of the literati; the seminar's first panel, moderated by biographer William Wright and titled "The Idea of Key West in the American Literary Imagination," discussed the local appeal to those who came before — the writers, now dead, who helped establish the island's literary reputation. From Anne Rowe, author of The Idea of Florida in the American Literary Imagination, came an impressive list of authors who visited the state, if not the island specifically, and later wrote about it: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sidney Lanier, Ring Lardner, Stephen Crane*Henry James. But it was John Dos Passos, among modern writers, who really "discovered" Key West, according to Virginia Spencer Carr, who has written biographies of Dos Passos and Carson McCullers and is working on a life of Tennessee Williams. "It was Dos Passos who came first," she said. He had come to the Keys in 1924 after a hiking trip down the peninsula. He suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and found the sun good for his health; he also found the island a good place to walk, one of his favorite pastimes. He Passos to join him in Key West, praising the fishing. Indeed, fishing the Gulf Stream was a primary reason that Hemingway stayed in Key West, according to Scott Donaldson, who has written biographies of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. But there was more: Donaldson said Hemingway had long been fascinated by "the pull'of the furthest outpost. He was always trying to escape from civilization." Key West was, in a sense, a new beginning for him; he came with a new wife (who was pregnant), and "a new wife commanded a new venue." By the 1930s, Hemingway's house was a stop on the landmarks tour and, in 1938, the Overseas Highway was completed, bringing even more tourists. Donaldson said the island was getting too crowded for Hemingway's taste, and there was yet another reason for moving on: "In December of 1936 a beautiful blonde in a black dress walked into Sloppy Joe's and engaged Hemingway in conversation." That was the beginning of the end of his marriage to Pauline and the beginning of an affair and, ultimately, another marriage. Indeed, time for another move. As David Kaufelt, whose most recent novel, American Tropic, is a multi- generational epic set in Florida, pointed out in his historical overview of Key West, it was Hemingway who really established Key West as a "writer's paradise" by attracting the national media to what had been an out-of-the-way island. Key West in the '30s was the jBferest city in the country, Kaufelt said.' But writers still came, and many who came stayed. Stetson Kennedy, a native Floridian author who headed the Works Progress Administrative projects in Key West during the Depression, regaled the seminar audience with reminiscences about his early days in Key West. He came as an aspiring young writer in 1935, and chose Key West as his destination because, as he told the audience, he had resolved to hitch hike to the Southernmost point he could hitch hike to, and that — with a ferry ride thrown in — was Key West. Kennedy came in the wake of the "big blow" of 1935, a hurricane so bad, he said, it's "still talked about by black folks in these parts who say, 'It blowed so hard it blowed the well up out of the ground, blowed the crooked road Con't on pg. 67 Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 51 A Letter From Bill Westray (Bill is away for a few weeks. The following is a very interesting letter he sent me . . . ed.) Dear Bill, During our trip north in February, we stopped overnight between Panama City and Fort Walton Beach. This stretch of the Florida Gulf Coast is now heavily built with high rise hotels and resort motels situated on the dunes between U.S. Highway 90 and the beaches. We wondered about the propriety of so much building so close to the water. We could still see residual damage from Hurricane Frederick in November 1985; but that's another subject. I took the occasion this time to visit Eglin Air Force Base which is the large military complex just north of the beach areas. Former Governor Bob Graham had mentioned to us during his visit to Key West last November that the Air Force had allowed sharing its airfield facilities with the civilian airlines serving Fort Walton Beach and Panama City. Eglin is the home of the 322nd Fighter Wing as well as a development and test facility,, fpr various types of Air Force weapons, armaments and facility systems. It is a very large active base, with bombing and gunnery ranges and other activities. We observed a number of modern jet fighters operating from the runways as well as other fighter-bomber, transport and utility type aircraft. - We found the compact Okaloosa County air terminal facility at the northwest side of Eglin Air Force Base. You reach it from the same state highway 85 from which you reach the main base, but it has separate access and parking a little north of the main base entrance. The terminal building is about the same size as the terminal building at Key West International Airport. It serves four airlines with 47 flights a day. There are counters for Eastern, Continental, Northwest, and a Delta subsidiary called ASA. They operate a combination of commercial jet, turboprop, and conventional prop aircraft. I saw a DC-9 and a DeHaviland DH-7 (4-engined turboprop) loading passengers at the ramp. The facility has a separate parking apron that could accommodate 4 or 5 medium airliners. It has a connecting taxiway to the two main runways and taxiways of Eglin AFB. The terminal has all the usual ammenities, including a snack bar, car rental and limousine service to town. All aircraft control, ground control, tower, etc., is handled by the Air Force. When I asked whether the civilian operations caused problems with military operations, those whom I talked to were surprised that I even raised the question. The distance from Fort Walton Beach to the air terminal is about 7 miles — somewhat further to Panama City. General aviation is not served at Eglin, but is served We give you credit for your success. Southeast Bank Key West Banking Center 422 Front Street (305) 294-4601 Member FDIC from smaller private airfields near the beach along US 90. Once again I have reached the conclusion that a similar operation would serve the long term needs of Key West, and that there is no other viable solution. Those who would try to squeeze commercial jets into Meecham Field are condemning Key West to second class air transportation forever. The 4800- foot runway at KWIA has room left to expand only a few hundred feet, and that would provide only a token improvement in safety or capacity. Boca Chica has one 10,000-foot and two 7,000-foot runways that already accommodate the largest jet transport aircraft such as C-135, C-5, and C-141's. In my opinion, limited shared use of Boca Chica, at least by the airlines using jets, is the best permanent solution to the city's needs. We need to pursuade the Defense Department and the Navy Department, as well as our legislative representatives, that we need to seek ways to help meet the city's needs, not find reasons and excuses not to accommodate the city. I'm in Atlanta this week. See you in a few weeks. . Bill Westray __ ene on 626 Duval Street Solares Hill — March W87 — rage ss Page 52 — March 1987 — Solares Hill Citizens' Survey #1 "Our Constitutional Future" Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution provides for •amending the .constitution by application of 2/3 of the state legislatures to congress to call a Constitutional Convention (ConCon). 32 states have passed such legislation. Passage in two more states would require the convening of a ConCon. A ConCon may be held in the next 10 years. Do you want to be represented in the decisions of a ConCon? Please check one: 1 Yes • No feasons: Please send your reply to: Citizens' Constitutional Observance P.O. Box 1972 Key West, FL 33041 Include name, address & phone. Survey results will be made public at the mid-Apri' Citizens' Observance Assembly. Key West Unitarian Universalist Fellowship by Jolene Talarico Here in Key West the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship was founded one year ago this month. The principles and philosophies of this liberal denomination, which teaches a positive faith of affirmation in man and confidence in the universe, has grown out of a long history, going back to as early as 250 A.D. Unitarial Universalism grew out of the reactions to the stringent limitations of religious orthodoxy. A movement known as the "Enlightenment" arose at the end of the eighteenth century. Among the many great thinkers and philosophers of that period, representing a new path of liberal feeling influencing the re-thinking of orthodoxy, were Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Their words helped lead people from orthodox religion into the liberal religious movement. The heart of Uniterian Universalism is a positive faith in working principles rather than doctrines. Beliefs are centered in a method or process of religious life. There is neither creed nor creedal statements. Members are expected to follow the dictates of reason, conscience and experience on matters normally frozen into doctrine. The churches make no official pronouncements on God, the Bible, Jesus, immortality, or any of the other theological questions generally answered by more traditional religious groups. To the Unitarian Universalists, a religious way of life is an individual creation. Their singularly binding principle is individual freedom of religious belief-- the principle of the free mind. This premise is what makes this church different from virtually all other forms of religious philosophies. To the Unitarian Universalist, the most vital fact about man is this: in order to advance, man .must be free. There is no area of life in which it is more important to be free than religion. Additionally, it is their contention that a church which claims authority to dictate beliefs is a human institution (and, by virtue of humanness, is not infallible), and its "final truths" are simply conclusions arrived at by earlier human leaders. Since churches, Bibles and creeds are creations of people who exercised their freedom to create, is there any reason why others should expect to do less? The Key West Unitarian Universalist Fellowship offers weekly meetings on Sunday mornings at 10:00 at the Woman's Club at 319 Duval Street. The weekly service incorporates music, readings and speakers whose talks cover a wide range of topics and offers the opportunity for discussion. The public is welcomed and encouraged to discover the Kqy West Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Unity of the Keys SUNDAY SERVICES 11:00 AM TUESDAY EVE. CLASS 'COURSE IN MIRACLES' 7:00 PM METAPHYSICAL BOOK STORE DIAL-A-PRAYER 24 HRS. 296-7212 3424 Duck Avenue - 296-5888 - Affiliate of Unity Village / Mo. Publishers of Daily Word KEY WEST FURNITURE Furniture Repairs * Refinishing Sales * Collector Dolls Open Daily 11 AM - 6 PM 1222 4th Street (Behind Burger King) John & Donna Root, Props. 294-8595 294-7621 GLAD TIDINGS TABERNACLE Rev. Charles Elliott SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICES 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. MID-WEEK SERVICE Thursday at 7:00 p.m. 1209 United Street • 296-5773 INSIDEOOT HCdufcU hod 87 — Page 51 Page 56 — March 1987 — Solares HiR Family and Health Services EMERGENCIES Ambulance 296-2401 or 911 Fire 296-2828 or911 HELPLINE/Latch Key Program 296-HELP, 294-LINE Missing Children 1-800-342-0821 Poison Control (24 hours) . . . 1-800-282-3171 Police 911 or 294-2511 Rape Victim Advocacy Program 294-5531 x4766 Sheriff 296-2424 EDUCATION Adult Education 294-5212 Child Find (FDLRS) 296-7541 Downtown Center, FKCC 294-8481 Exceptional Student Education 296-7541 Florida Keys Community College.. 296-9081 Monroe County Schools 296-6523 Parenting Skills Classes 296-5911 RECREATION Boy Scouts 745-3987 City of Key West Recreation Dept... 294-3721 Girl Scouts 745-3737 Monroe County Public Library 294-8488 CHILD ABUSE Child Abuse Office, FKMH 294-5531 Child Protective Services, HRS . . . . 294-9513 Child Protection Team, FKMH 294-5531 Coalition Against Child Abuse 294-5531 Guardian Ad-Litem 296-7518 Parenting Classes, FKMH 294-5531 Parents Anonymous . . . 296-HELP, 294-LINE Puppet Show 294-5531 Reporting, HRS . . . 1-800-342-9152, 294-1050 Volunteer Child Advocacy Team . . . 294-5531 Hand Painted Porcelain Pieces and Tiles by See at 916 Kennedy Dr. Key West, FL 305-296-9732 535 <_P.CP. !Bo* So? (305) 234-3036 Traditional Chinese Medical Therapy THEODORE BERLIN, C.A. Acupuncturist Florida State Certified 615-A United Street Key West 294-0559 Acupuncture is Recommended by The World Health Organization Asthma, Arthritis, Bronchitis, Bursitis, Diabetes, iGastro-lntestinal Problems, Hypertension (HBP) Low Back Pain, Migraine, Paralysis, Pre-Menstrual Syndrome, Post-Operative Pain, Sinus, Skin Prob- lems (Ezcema, Uticaria, Herpes, Shingles, Ulcers, Etc.) Sciatica, Stroke, Stop Smoking, Drug With- drawal, Weight Loss, Etc. ' ' '. HAVY Counseling & Assistance Center 292-2533 Family Advocacy 296-2461 Navy Alcohol Safety Action Program 292-2555 Navy Family Service Center 292-3152 Navy Relief 292-2196 DAY CARE See Yellow Pages listing for day nurseries and child care. SOCIAL SERVICES Big Brothers & Big Sisters 294-9891 Commodity Food Bank 294-8468 Community Control 294-1059 Developmental Services 294-1059 Domestic Abuse Shelter 296-HELP, 294-LINE Juvenile Alternative Services Program 296-7465 Monroe County Food Bank 294-8468 Monroe County Social Services . . . . 294-8468 HEALTH Al-Anon 296-6616, 294-5531 Ala-Teen 296-6616 Alcoholics Anonymous 296-8654 Alliance for the Mentally 111... 294-5237 Blind Services 1-800-342-1828 Chemical Dependency Unit, Delphos 294-5531 Childbirth Educ/Midwifery ..;:., 294-4536 Easter Seal 294-1089 Family Planning 294-1021 Hello Baby 294-5531 Helping Hand Stroke Club 294-5531 Hospice . . 294-8812 Improved Pregnancy Outcome 294-1021 LaLeche Foundation 745-2274 LaMaze 294-1068, 294-4218 MARC House • Detox 743-6551 Mental Health Care Center 294-5237 Monroe County Health Dept 294-1021 Narcotics Anonymous .296-7999 Nutrition Program 294-1021 Ostomy Support Classes 296-8659 Overeaters Anonymous 294-5183 Pregnancy Aid & Counseling 296-7337 Op Front/Drug Information .. 1-800-432-8255 Well Baby/Medicaid Clinic 294-1021 W.I.C. (Women, Infants & Children) 294-1021 MISCELLANEOUS Adoptions 294-9513 Birth Certificates 294-1021 Family Resource Center, FKMH.... 294-5531 Foster Homes: Information & Licensing 294-9513 Legal Services 294-4641 x358 National Switchboard for Runaways 1-800-621-4000 Red Cross 296-3651 Salvation Army 294-5611 Single Parent Hotline 1-800-638-9675 Victim Witness Assistance Program 294-5165 Welcome Home Ministries 296-2366 Zonta 296-4357 Vietnam Vets of Key West 294-9802 AIDS Education Project 294-8302 * • " ' ' 4 LOUI G. FRANKE, D.D.S. PERIOD ONTIST (GUM SPECIALIST) FULLTIME IN KEY WEST 3263 Flagler Avenue 296-2074 Wednesday Through Saturday Hours by Appointment FINE BOOKS BOUGHT AND SOLD FREE ANTIQUARIAN BOOK SEARCH 1028 TRUMAN AVENUE KEY WEST, FLORIDA 33040 305-294-7446 tEcju.Lfzmz.nt TEC | GENERAL CONTRACTOR » DUVAL WALK .INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL.. RESIDENTIAL • NEW AND REMODELING CONSTRUCTION • SPECIALIZING IN INTERIOR FINISH • ESTIMATING AVAILABLE ROBERT J. FATDRA CONSTRUCTION SERVICES STATE LICENSED GENERAL CONTRACTOR 8 Amarylus Drive • Key West, Florida 33040 (305)296-4853 Institute for Evaluation and Therapy Key West Professional Plaza, 1111 12th Street, Suite 205, Key West, Florida 33040 294-8992 Tanju T. Mishara, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist. Guillermo D. Marcovici, MD, Psychiatrist EVALUATIONS MEDICATION PSYCHOTHERAPY BIOFEEDBACK The finest selection oft table and floor lamps, track I lighting, celling fixtures, » yard lighting, outdoor fixtures & chandeliers in the Florida Keys. 1025 WHITE ST. 294-7916 Dairi| Queen HOURS 11 am - 11 pm Every Day United & White Sts. FREE SliaLL CQPIE WITH ANY PURCHASE AND THIS AP. . , ONE PER'CUSTOWER PER VISIT nan- RAYMON0.IAMES&. ASSOCIATES^ Member New York Stock Exchange S1PC Perry's Plaza 3706-H N. Roosevelt Blvd. Key West, Florida 33040 Phone (305) 294-9575 Flonaa [800)'327-5964 "Inside Florida'(800) 826-7401 "The niftiest casual clothes in the Keys . . . " THE MIAMI HERALD '•A trendy shop . . . " TIME MAGAZINE "One of America's most exciting retail environments an absolute must for your visit." ENGLAND'S BBC TELEVISION \ Fast Buck Freddie's. 500 Duval Street # Open 10 - 6 Seven Days • 294-2007 EMERGENCY CARE.' NEW PRICING SYSTEM . . . SMALL EMERGENCY - SMALL FEE Our charges are based on the emergency care actually provided, rather than on a standard fee. NOW, IF YOU HAVE A SMALL EMERGENCY, YOU WILL ALSO HAVE A SMALLER FEE. The next time a member of your family needs emergency care, from an earache or soar throat to more complex problems . . . call your physician immediately. In the event that you are unable to reach him or her, come directly to our Emergency Department. Your not-for-profit, nationally accredited Community Hospital Florida Keys Memorial Hospital 5900 Junior College Road 294-5531 At Old Town Medical, the key is caring. Doctors Larry Siegel (M.D.) and John J. Jonikas (D.O.j share a special commitment to both top quality medical care and quality of life for the people of Key West. That's why their clinic provides: • state-of-the-art medi- cal equipment • parking at the rear of the building in convenient Old Town • handicap access • first class medical expertise in everything from general medicine to alcohol and drug dependency treatment to highly specialized kidney disorders • the Key West Kidney Center and Q 24 hour on-call availability. Call for an appointment today. OLD TOWN MEDICALS 520 Southard St. 296-8593 Page 58 — March 1987 — Solares Hill tf 5 been a wed kept s but now if s time for Solares Hili Publishing Company to ANNOUNCE i that we now have in-house design and typesetting capabilities brought to you by Our Talented Team with the assistance of our Computer and our Laser Printer We don't want to brag, but Solares Hill Newspaper and Entertainment Key West as well as many ads that appear in these publications are designed and typeset right here in our offices at #4 Key Lime Square Take a Long Easy Look at KEY WEST on VIDEO CASSETTE Experience the charming sights and natural sounds of The Island City on this unique video. Send it to your friends up North. Take one'home as a souvenir. A GREAT GIFT! Available at these fine stores, Cavanaghs Perkins & Son Chandlery AND We're very proud of that It gives us great pleasure to offer these services to you • ' • (at very reasonable prices).. INTERESTED? WE THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE! We'II be happy to tell you more ... We have point sizes ranging from to 72 and lots of other options!! Contact Christine Naoghton ••. 294-3602 #4 Key Lime Square - Announcing - EVERY! BLOOMING-THING. \ NURSERY Grand Opening Celebration St. Patrick's Day, March 17, through March 22 Complimentary Food & Beverages Nursery - Retail & Wholesale Landscaping • Maintenance •Design Wholesale Import/Export Orchids, Bromeliads,etc. Specializing in Flowering Tropicals and Exotics Orchids and Bromeliads Now Open 626 Fleming 296-1420 Open Soon 310-Duval Commodore Porter Gardens SnlaresHiU — Marcll 1»»/— rage Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 59 WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE LOWER KEYS Just My Opinion by Gil Ryder This column in the February issue had to be cut off for lack of space and continued in this issue. Just in case you missed or have forgotten the subject, the last paragraph published concerned the approximate 50,000 traffic fatalities each year, half of which are determined to be caused by drunken drivers, and the effort being made to save the 25,000 lives lost each year due to drunken driving. Now, let's go on: Let's look at the other side of the coin. What about the 25,000 lives lost in traffic accidents caused by sober drivers? In order to save those 25,000 lives we'd have to do the unthinkable: create a test that would establish whether or not each individual had the mental and emotional stability required to drive safely under any and all road and traffic conditions. No — that solution wouldn't be accepted either. So many drivers would lose the privilege that the auto industry would collapse. Since we can't cure the automotive ills of the nation, why not just settle down and try to alleviate the traffic problems of the Keys? Bill Becker pointed out in his January column what was being done to ease the traffic situation on Big Pine Key. Now, if the powers that be can just move those ideas from paper to paving, at least Big Pine will be over the hump. In order to alleviate traffic, problems in the Keys, we must recognize that a large number of tourists are not interested in the Keys but rather in Key West. The rest of the Keys are just (to them) an obstacle to be overcome in order to get to their destination. Why not build another road leading more directly to Key West? If I recall correctly, there were plans for another highway over Florida Bay from somewhere around Cape Sable to No Name Key. That was possibly 10 years ago and the plan seems to have just faded away. Why not revive and revise that plan? Bringing the traffic to No Name Key would not be good enough to relieve today's congestion. Bringing that highway to Big Coppitt would get the tourist traffic nearer to their destination, and do it a lot quicker. Most tourists would be happy to pay a ten dollar toll (one way) to avoid the congestion of US-1. This new highway would solve some other problems also. For instance, evacuation preceding a major hurricane. Such a road going to Big Coppitt might ultimately solve the problems of political disparity between the Upper Keys and Key West. Many people in the Upper Keys believe that county tax money is being used unfairly to the benefit of Key West. Whether that is so or not is not as important as the fact that some (many?) people believe it, and such belief causes bitterness and disharmony — something we'd all be better off without. A road leading into Big Coppitt would create a dividing point and probably establish the area from Big Coppitt to Key West as "metropolitan Key West." That condition in turn might well lead to the partitioning of Monroe County: one county from Big Coppitt to Key West and the other county the rest of the Keys. Both such counties should be able to operate efficiently. No one would have to go from Key Largo to Key West (or vice versa) to attend a Commission meeting. Big Pine residents wouldn't have to go to Key West to serve as jurors. Traffic problems would be alleviated (except in Key West, where the Con'tonpg.62 Along the Lower Keys by Bill Becker Continuing our discussion of the prop dredging problem ... sixteen commercial fishermen who utilize Niles Channel (between Ramrod and Summerland Keys) remain under threat of $25,000 fines and a year in jail if they are discovered running their boats through shallow grass flats — essentially prop dredging without a permit. Monroe County Marine Extension Agent Jeff Fisher administers the county's share of Florida Boating Improvement Fund monies, revenue collected from recreational boat registrations. With the help of a citizen advisory committee Fisher advises the County Commission on expenditures for projects such as public boat ramps and channel markers. In the seven years he has been affiliated with the Fund, Fisher says that the bulk of the money has been spent on channel marking projects. "We have a goal of hopefully marking every reasonable channel that runs from the island to the offshore areas to make it convenient and easier for local boaters to get in and out." Fisher says he can't control who uses a particular channel. "We assume skipper intelligence. We assume that if a channel happens to be two and a half feet deep, it's more or less a small boater's channel. We don't mark channels and then promulgate lots of rules on who can use them." Fisher feels that a trade-off -- an "accommodation" — is in order. "Can we tolerate some minor destruction of a particular portion of a grass flat by marking a channel versus the total grassflat, the big picture? If we have a 3 000-acre shallow bay, are we doing substantial damage by permitting some damage to 12 of those acres by marking a channel? What have we done to the other 2988 acres? We are literally Bill Becker is News Director for US-1 Radio (104.7 FM) keeping the boats out of them. We are making a small concession. Is the alternative 'Stop the boating traffic'? I don't think so ... not in the Florida Keys. The alternative has to be to mark reasonable channels and let the boating public use good boater knowledge to decide whether that is the channel for them. If there is going to be some damage it's a trade-off against all the damage we're avoiding. By not marking the channel we're having every boat go hither, thither and yon in the bay, destroying the broad base of the grassflat. And that's the bottom line." Curtis Kruer is the Florida Keys field representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A hard-nosed biologist, he is a veteran of the state and federal permitting battleground. Kruer has spent six years documenting the Niles Channel situation. It was his data which sealed the government's case against Michaels Construction Company for the destruction of twenty-seven acres of seagrasses by prop dredging through Niles Channel. MCC built the new Niles Channel Bridge, bringing pre-cast segments to the site by barge and tugboat from the bayside through more than two miles of very shallow water. With twin, five-foot diameter propellors, those tugboats cut huge swaths through the grassflats. Kruer says that Fisher's trade-off proposal is permitting question. "If we are creating a situation which everyone acknowledges will result in dredging of seagrass, someone then should be required to submit a permit application. Maybe it's the Extension Service or the Organized Fishermen of Florida. If the desire is to mark a shallow water channel ~ and two and a half feet is a shallow water channel ~ someone should be and will be required to submit a permit application to dredge up what's between the channel markers. It then gets subjected to the federal public interest review process. Then a determination is made: Is it reasonable to -sacrifice these twelve acres so we can better manage the other 2988? Federal Judge Edward Davis has determined that willful and deliberate prop dredging ~ what Fisher is talking about •-- requires state and federal permits. Done without permits, day after day, it becomes unauthorized dredging. Con'tonpg.62 Hill — March 1987 - Marcfc ,19&<7 - ^ Sofaresflffl : Coupon Coupon Coupon Coupon Coupon Coupon Coupon o o Mermaid Restaurant Mexican and Seafood Free Bean Dip Chips & Salsa I J Open 7 PM Tues. - Sat, M.M. 30 1/2 Big Pine Key 872-9821 o Coupon Coupon Coupon Coupon Coupon Coupon Coupon R a y m o n d !R,eaJL EJsta/te. 'Name 'Address Phone 11 am interested in: "We Love the Lower Keys" Mail to: Raymond Real Estate P.O. Box 913 Big Pina Kay, FL 33043 HOMES, LAND AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY SEASONAL RENTALS MM 30.5, Oceanside, P.O. Box 913 Biq Pine Key, FL 33043 e 305/872-9116 15 B & R PATIO SHOP Phone: 872-4011 2 Direct From Factory P.V.C. & Fiberglass Wicker Furniture Open10AM-5PM We Ship Anywhere 7 Days 31 M.M. RUTH LEACH, Pres. Big Pine Key, FL 33043 Edie's Hallmark Shop \ Candy by Blum's of San Francisco 3 Stained glass and paintings by local artists And always that unusual gift 872-3933 Open 7 Davs Turn at light to BPK Shopping Center - next to Winn-Dixie y ^ Ske.eter's MARINE REPAIR INBOARD * OUTBOARD * I/O STAMAS YACHTS MERCRUISER ATLANTIC DAVITS SALES & SERVICE SERVICE CALLS ARE OUR SPECIALTY BJG PINE KEY (305) 872-9040 M.M. 30.5 GULFSIDE ON US-1 ] 4 Big JPine Unisex Creative Hairstyling For Men and Women L'Oreal • Nexus Erica - Diann - Pat - Rose - Wanda 14K GOLD JEWELRY"!. WALK-INS WELCOME Monday thru Saturday M.M. 30 • Big Pine Key 872-2145 17 Marci Roque • Greg Hardman Steven L. Bond We Wire Flowers KEY WEST FLORIST BIG PINE KEY Avenue A & 1st Street, No.2 Rt. 1 Box 693-B Big Pine Key, FL 33043 Phone: 305 872-4054 SAMANTHA'S NEEDLEWORK* FABRICS, CRAFTSUPPLJES NOTIONS ARTSUPPUES 9 AM-4 PM Tuesday-Saturday M.M. 30.5 - Marshall Building - Big Pine Key 305-872-2235 16 BIG PINE KEY COUPON BIGHT ftQURTIC PRESERVE MU€£ANEEm KILL'S WE SPECIALIZE IN GOOD TIMES AND GREAT STEAMED AND SMOKED FOOD. COME VISIT THE FRIENDLIEST BAR IN THE KEYS Conch Chowder Lobster Creole Curried Shrimp Ceviche MM 311/3 BIG Pfttf 872-4012 HERCULES Bar-B-Q n Country Style Cookin' Hickory Smoked Foods our Specialty Sandwiches • Side Orders Whole Chickens & Rib Slabs Something different: smoked stuffeJpotato Reasonable Prices • Take Out • Catering 19%M- .872-3872 Days U.S. 1 • BIG PINE KEY 1 BLK. EAST OF LIGHT Piife Nursery Inc. Genevieve Isaksen John Isaksen LANDSCAPE & DESIGN By Scott D. Wade, FCNP Orchids & Supplies Gifts Outdoor Furniture Garden Center CUSTOM MIRRORS SCREENS & SHUTTERS US-l M.M. 30 1/2 Big Pine Key 872-2468 *° 57 VARIETIES OF ICY COLD BEER! PI77A 1 \L.LJ\ W h o l e o r Slices Takeout Available PRIVATE GARDEN/PCOL/DARTS/GAMES 872-9115 ma M M KEY FUMHDA Big Pine Key, Gulf Side, Right Fork at Light 2 miles, follow signs. No. end of Watson Blvd. "A Nice Place . . . if You can Find it." COUPON eiGHT RQURT1C PRESERVE COUPON 10 COUPON I 8 Angelotti's Italian PIZZA & PUB I • Italian Specialties § • Pizza - Try our Veggie Special ^•Miaas • Daily Specials o O ^narbroiled Burgers i • Sandwich Platters O S „-WE DELIVER HOT FOOD & S O COLD BEER, WINE, SODA, ETC. (5 O Open7davs ?/c ; 5; Prime Rib Sandwiches •Salads ^ FREE small cheese pizza with purchase g of any large pizza valued at $10.00 or more 5 O COUPON COUPON COUPON COUPONS ONE MORE TIME - A Consignment Shop - Clothing, Antiques, Furniture, Jewelry Always a 500 Rack Mon.-Fri., 10 AM-5 PM; Sat. 10 AM-1 PM Avenue A & 1st Street 10% Off With This Ad 6 Keys Office Equipment SALES • SERVICE LEASING • SUPPLIES MON.-FRI. 9 AM - 5 PM Serrina the Tlorida Keys 872-4117MARSHALL BLDG. • BIQ PINE • MM 30.5 TEC Crook i Grook CROOK & CROOK, INC. MARINE EQUIPMENT BAIT.& TACKLE MON-THURS 7 AM-7 PM MARINE HARDWARE FRI-SAT 7 AM-9 PM DIVING GEAR SUN 7 AM-5 PM 14K GOLD JEWELRY VISA • MASTERCARD 8 7 2 ~ 2 3 2 4 BIG PINE KEY MM 31 BIG PINE TRAVEL AGENCY TRAVEL IS OUR BUSINESS_ OUR ONL Y BUSINESS! MM 30 3/4 Corner US-1 and County Road Big Pine Key (Going East, 2nd left past traffic light) Tel. 872-4440 12 SERENDIPITY FROZEN YOGURT A NICE PLACE TO EAT MM 30 1/2 BIG PINE KEY, FLORIDA 872-3030 11:00 am to 10:00 pm Monday thru Saturday 11:00 am to 8:00 pm aunday Closed Tuesday pj Under New Management Since July '86 ' Hill _ March 1987 — Page 71 Page 62 — March 1987 — Solares Hili WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE LOWER KEYS Co n't from pg. 59 problem would probably become worse and the finances better). Both counties would be just as livable as the same area today. I'd be happy to live in either one, and so would several million other people. Would the real estate taxes be any worse? Probably — unless people start moving out of the Keys faster than they are moving in, and that's not likely to happen any time soon. The residents of any area must expect taxes to rise as the area becomes more popular. When the area becomes less popular, the taxes will go down again — but not right away. The existing Land Use Plan won't solve all the problems either, although it will probably work reasonably well (don't expect miracles) after it is amended. The problems of the Keys differ only in degree from the problems of the state, the nation and, probably, the world. Too many individuals want to gain more money (and, thus, more power), but they do not want to part with sufficient money to prevent degradation of the environment or to suppress crime. Each individual believes that someone else ought to pay for those activities, in our case, preferably Tallahassee or Washington, D.C. Oddly enough, while we want others to pay the bills, we insist on maintaining our autonomy, even though such complete autonomy doesn't exist and never did. I sometimes think that we must be a nation made up largely of hypocrites. We. like to see the flag flying at various meetings. We like to have meetings start with a salute to the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance — but we only mouth the words and have no intention of conforming to the pledge, even those who know what it means. We pledge (in words) to sustain ourselves as "one nation, indivisible" and then scream for "Home Rule" (County sovereignty) without even realizing that according to the pledge we just mouthed our actions are unAmerican. We mouth, "with liberty and justice for all," and far too many interpret that patriotic phrase to mean "with liberty and license for myself," and regard it as part of some imaginary property-right guarantee that permits the owner or agent of owner to use or abuse the property for the greatest financial profit, regardless of the damage inflicted on neighbors, community, or even the nation. Instead of debating the subject of prayer in the schools, we would be wiser to demand that our children be taught the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance and the U.S. Constitution, rather than have them learn by rote, words and phrases that have no meaning to them. Perhaps then we could have a generation grow up without the idea that the Pledge of Allegiance and the Constitution granted all Americans, as a right, the Privilege of Plunder. r Can't from pg. 59 And that's what we're regulating in Niles Channel and other areas. Off the top of my head I'd say it's doubtful that permits would be granted to sacrifice twelve acres of seagrass in a place like this. Obviously, there has been enough sacrificed already, and the programs are trying to maintain what currently exists with no more degradation. "Channel marking projects should be limited to deep water channels. Public monies, in my opinion, should not be used to mark channels through two and a half feet of water. Niles Channel to the north can never be construed as a deep water channel." This issue has a high volatility potential. There are determined, strong-willed personalities involved, along with some major environmental issues. One should expect nothing less here in the Keys. The Big Pine Athletic Association is busily preparing for another major event later this month: The Torch Trek.Biathlons — running and bicycling along the scenic Big Torch Key and Middle Torch Key Roads. Officially sanctioned by the Tri-Federation/USA, this first-time event will be held the afternoon of Sunday, March 29- Biathletes may choose the Short Course (one-mile run and three-mile bike) or the more rigorous Long Course) five-mile run and twenty-five mile bike), with several age divisions in both. Top male and female finishers in the short course will win $50 each, and in the long course, $100 each. All entrants must join the Tri-Federation for an annual membership fee of $15. Membership for youngsters 7-14 years old will be sponsored locally. Entry fee in the short course will be $5 for ages 7-14, and $10 for ages 15 and up. Long course entry fee is $15. Regulation helmets are required and bicycles must be inspected. Applications are available from Ray's Bicycle Shop on Truman Avenue (the official race bicycle shop), Sunbelt Medical Center on Fleming St., the Lower Keys and Marathon Chambers of Commerce, Big Pine Ace Hardware, US-1 Radio, and Edie's Hallmark. * * £ * *s£^ *1?* *»1^ ••r* *T* *t* * ^ In the January issue of Solares Hill I described the two-year project known as the Cross Big Pine Key Access Road. A Public Hearing on the project has been scheduled before the County Commission for Thursday, March 26, 7 PM, at the Marathon Courthouse. With the Keys' busy season in full swing — and Big Pine Key a frequent traffic bottleneck — it is readily apparent how important this road will be to local residents. Public support at the hearing will be important in moving this project ahead. Till next month following seas. fair winds and BEAT THE CRUSHER! U-PulI-lt Cash & Carry Sale March 2 thru March 31 7 Days a Week 9 AM-6 PM Bring Your Own Tools And Pull Parts From 1200 Cars & Trucks! (1935 to 1975 Models) B&B USED AUTO PARTS M.M. 31, Industrial Road, Big Pine Key 745-3517 Big city got you down? It's just a short drive through Paradise to the . . . GLrilX - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner - - Specials Every Day - - Cozy Tropical Atmosphere -.. - Beer, Wine - GOING FISHING? We'll pack your lunch and cook your catch! Open 7 Days, 7 AM-2 PM, 5 PM-10 PM MM 25 745-3446! Summerland Key Scandla-Toini" CAPT. BILL Hjonrn Lower Keys Reel Fishing * • Day & Night trips Offshore • Bottom • Wreck Fishing Scuba & Snorkeling to the Looe Key Sanctuary I LET THE GALLEY GRILL COOK YOUR CATCH L 3&K$£ CALL 745-3692 Ic ^ ^ " LOCATED AT • *fV Summerland Chevron Station f MM 25 I (Next to Galley Grill) 5 ; A Conversation by Gordon Lacy We are at Strunk's, Simone our Belgian painter and I, looking for screws to mount her canvasses into frames, and I am doing my best translating. This conversation is verbatim. "She wants them long and thin." "These are 3/4." "They're too thick. And not long enough," I add for good measure. "You want flat or rounded heads?" "Uh, rounded, I guess." "Phillips or slot?" "Not Phillips," I say, avoiding pitfalls. "They are all too thick or too thin or not long enough," sighs Simone, looking ravishing. I do not translate. "We'll think about screws later." I am perspiring. "What we need now is a gimlet." "Across the street to the left." "Ha ha," I say and if looks could kill... "Gimlet's a drink, that's all." "Yes. It also happens to be a long screw with a little handle for starting the screw." "Vrille, vrille," insists Simone. Vrille means gimlet but if you ask for it in a Belgian bar you get sent to the hardware store. My friend Richard, who is in construction professionally, enters. "Richard, what is a gimlet in this country?" "Well, ice and vodka shaken with ..." "No, I mean a thing with a screw on one end and a handle, for, well, to make a hole to start a screw ..." "Oh, do you want my awl?" "What I do not need this minute is your all, but thanks ..." He is helpful and we take what is called a screw-hole starter to our salesman. "I thought that was what you wanted." I do not swear. "Why didn't you ..." "I guess, just too embarrassed to say it." Solares Hill — March 1987—Page 63 • Best JJJ Bargains! For fishermen, swimmers, divers, sunbathers, nature lovers! =_ . - - . . AT. MILE MARKER 28 • 40 Years on Little Torch Key • Selling - Big Pine to Key West • Island Homes! • Business Property! » Waterfront Homes! • List with us for fast sales WE SELL THE BEST CLIMATE IN THE WORLD. WAVING PALMS — CRYSTAL CLEAR WATERS. BETTY M. BROTHERS REAL ESTATE, INC. BETTY M REIN. LICENSED REAL ESTATE H R O T H E H P O BOX 456. US I . M M 28 LITTLE TORCH KEY. FL 33043 PHONE 305/872-2261 and 872-2318 Write or Phone for Free Computer List and Free Maps! My childhood dream was to live in a home . that looked out on the open sea ... The Florida Keys Catalog Well someone finally has done it! You can now shop the Keys the easy way, mail order. It's even called "The Florida Keys Catalog." And yes, they.even have a Toll Free number! What is offered in the catalog? Everything! You want 14k Gold jewelry, it's there; you want Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice, they have it. What about art prints? They have a variety to select from. Artists who are known up and down the Keys are John Kiraly, Maxine McMullen, Mario Sanchez, Irma Quigley, Rachel Kaufman, Barbara Hodgens, and Robert E. Kennedy. Clothes, books, honey, and even a Video Tape of Key West. Founders of this ingenious idea are Berne Teeple and Larry Szuch. They created the "Made in Key West" catalog in 1986. The response to that catalog grew into expanding up the Keys. Thus, "The Florida Keys Catalog 1987" was published. Copies of the catalog can be obtained by sending $1.00 (postage and handling) to: The Florida Keys Catalog, P.O. Box 622-PR, Key West, FL, 33041. Susbou Wuxi China 17 day scenic tour escorted from Key West by Inez Payne, Manager of Boulevard Travel. Hangziiou Group departure from Key West September 11, 1987. Call Inez Payne, 294-3711 or come by Boulevard Travel Searstown for details. v*** ou Hoo« Kong Roof ratS by Judith Kazantzis Roof rats also nest in palms. When the coconuts are ready, to teh annoyance of the owner who has sat in his apartment below with the TV and a crate of Milwaukee all these months, the rats drill into the shaggy heads to suck the thin milk. Over the husks they twine, sucking. They spreadeagle their pink hands. For other food or for the moonlight they cruise below: They hare over the downlands of silver gables tiled in aluminum. they jump down by disordered hair, the wiry plaits and hanks officus branches bell pulls passing upper veranda to lower veranda, home of a white turret the boudoir of Mrs. Carrasco; or the crazy cottage next door, its gate of hen wire, its propped car — This car is not abandoned' its plastic pelican, its Milwaukee man. And so to the windy pavement where the green coconuts blow down. They bang, now and then, in the night. They roll in among the seamed brown ones piling the dry, blossom filled gutters. A LA CARTE LTD. Simply the most beautifully filled baskets in the world! Coffees, chocolates, dried fruits and nuts, oils, vinegars and specially selected gifts. Remember St. Patrick's Day with our Irish Whiskey Cake! Drop by and see us at work. Plenty of Free Parking! 812 Southard Street Keq West, Florida 33040 294-4496 • 296-0496 3 3 Solares Hill — Marcn iyg/ — Page 64 — March 1987 — Solares Hill Nature's Way -- March Musings by Alice Terry This column has evolved into a sort of calendar control, spacing my year into neat segments that appear to be crowding one another now. Winter seems to have come and gone, although the calendar shouts that it is only the beginning of March. Here are some garden reminders for this month. Winter annuals should be replaced with hot-weather varieties. Gladiolus must be sprayed for thrips, and roses for leaf spot. Fertilize all garden plants and take cuttings of all but the very tender kinds. Transplant evergreen trees and shrubs not in tender flush. Divide and replant herbaceous perennials that bloom in late summer or fall. Now is the time to plant seeds of ageratum, sweet alyssum, China-aster, balsam, begonia, cypress-vine, gaillardia, globe- amaranth, hollyhock, French-marigold, morning-glory, portalaca, torenia and zinnia. Bulbs to plant are caladium, gloriosa, haemanthus, montbretia, tuberose and zephyranthes. If dormant bulbs can be found, add amaryllis, crinum and eucharis. Young trees need feeding at this time. Start now and feed every six weeks throught June. Remember to feed your citrus, too, if you didn't feed them in January or February. "s * It is a good time to air-layer crotons and dxacenas not only to get new plants, but to prevent them from becoming leggy. Air- layer plants whose top portion is symmetrical, or moss-off a number of the larger branches that have well-formed tops. After rooting and severing from the parent plant, the lower parts will put out new growth and assume better shape. Bougainvilleas are flamboyantly advertising their wares all over town. Strangely enough, they thrive on neglect. There are many varieties that flower at different times of the year, and some are nearly ever-blooming. If you are having problems with the health and productivity of a bougainvillea, do not prune it for a whole year. This will allow new branches to grow and increase the plant's size and bloom potential. Don't water the plant, unless it wilts, and stop feeding it. Keep the soil dry from fall through spring, but make sure it receives full sun so that it can flower abundantly. I am very aware of the spring season in terms of the light. This means not only longer daylight hours, but the changes in quality of the light received and perceived. I have been a full-time Florida resident since 1963, and my yearly watch for spring concerns the goings and comings of birds, reappearance of blossoms and fruits and the rejoicing, usually, in low humidity. This is considered the dry period, yet there are surprise showers. The temperature hovers in the sixties for a few days, then will shoot up again into the comfortable seventies, even timidly approaching eighty on some fine, sunny days. It's that time of year when anything goes, weatherwise. Nature's way in the garden is a bit confused, too, for the frangipani is still blooming blissfully away, accompanied by a gorgeous pink and orange cattleya orchid, some brilliant orange jatropha blossoms, ever-blooming periwinkles, and a crown of thorns, still in a pot, that is more immense every year. A friend's gift of a datura is seductively displaying exotic hanging bell-like blooms, and there is a brand-new flower spike on the eucharis lily, a survivor of the Peggy Mill's Garden. March will witness two events of interest to local plant-collectors and gardeners. The Biennial Orchid Show will take place once again at the Joe Allen Garden Center, also known as West Martello Towers. All orchid fanciers are welcome to enter their prize specimens to be judged by the American Orchid Society judges. Entries are due on March 16 and 17, and judging takes place on March 19. The show will be open to the public March 20 and 21. There will be plenty to "oh" and "ah" over, with seedlings and mature plants available for purchase. • Save your pennies until then. . On March 26, at 9:30 AM, the public is welcome to hear visiting expert Dr, Donselman discuss "Heliconias" at the Joe Allen Garden Center. The lecture is- sponsored by the Key West Garden Club, and is free of charge. South Florida Arts Community "Pleased As Punch" Over Noguchi by Ellen Sugarman Last week a committee of Founders who have been working on the proposed Isamu Noguchi sculpture garden project at FKCC made a trip to Miami to meet with members of the South Florida Consortium of the Arts and heads of the Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Arts Councils, to explore sources of funding for the project. ($40,000 has already been raised from private donors in Key West, New York, Paris, Miami, and other cities.) They were received with great enthusiasm and came back assured that "the fact that it's a Noguchi design makes the project eminently fundable," in the words of William Benson, one of the members of the committee. "We got the sense that Indian mounds are what is going on in contemporary art right now. They loved the mound and they loved the idea that it's natural," Benson explained. "The sense I had of the meeting was so exciting. We got overwhelming responses from everyone there. It said to me that the earth sculpture was appropriate to South Florida's cultural heritage — they immediately saw that." The other counties were amazed that Key West had this opportunity to receive a Noguchi earth sculpture. Neither Palm Beach nor Broward have been offered one (William Ray, head of the Palm Beach Arts Council, said his community would be "thrilled" if they had gotten it, then added, "I'm intrigued with the idea and excited by the setting; from the drawing it looks like a winner"), and Miami is paying for a Noguchi design as part of its $25 million Bayfront Park project. The Noguchi design sparked such interest that Kenneth Kahn, Director of the Consortium, suggested they adopt it as the focal point for their Gateway-to-Florida design competition. In a telephone interview, Kahn said, "It looks like a wonderful project, another instance of Noguchi's genius at work. I think his solution is going tobe very dramatic and I'd like to see it go forward on the FKCC site. I hope it can be implemented quickly ... We are proposing a design arts' competition where money from a $70,000 NEA grant we received-last year could go to establish a chain of earthworks, or mounds, from Key West north to other counties." The idea would be for each county to pick an appropriate site (one suggested was the new airport in Palm Beach) and create a mound reflecting the original Key West Noguchi design. The Consortium instructed members of the Noguchi committee1 to approach the sculptor with the idea and to ask if he'd act as a jurist for the design competition. As William Ray, who is "very excited" about the project, put it, "I'm hoping we'll have luck with the endowment and we'll see four of these things instead of one!" The Founders committee returned home very gratified with the .reception their project had won and encouraged about funding sources. - THE WATER SPORT PEOPLE For all of your water sport needs %VICKI WEEKS s Director y SCUBA DIVING BOARD SAILING • RENTALS • RETAIL 508 South Street • 2964546. Art Kara, Sculptor by Maggie Finn "Speaking of the expression of a figure, more and more I come to the conclusion that it is not so much in features as in the whole attitude." -- Van Gogh Fine art in Key West. A rare occurrence, perhaps, but when the two come together, an experience worth savoring. The sculptor is Art Kara and his human figures are fabricated in gleaming bronze. Fortunate were the viewers of his recent East Martello Museum and Gallery exhibit in January, as will be those viewing his upcoming April opening at the State Capitol in Tallahassee. Superior in concept and craftsmanship, his work is spiritually uplifting. Slim, angular, and elegant, Art and his bronze pieces share a striking resemblance. Self-effacing in his role as artist, Art, trained as an engineer, is adamant that he is secondary to his work and consistently shifts the credit for his inspiration to "a Higher Being . . . I am a vehicle." With periods of life already spent in Paris, Montreal and New York City, Art knew on his first day in Key West that this was home . . . "the sea and the sky inspire me enormously . . . through them I feel at one with God. The spirit of artistic freedom keeps me here . . . I am truly grateful for this island refuge." A Key Wester since 1971, Art spent years developing his technique and style before bringing his sculpture into public view. Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 65 "Crucifix" The precise renderings of his figures impact on the viewer with their striking universality. Powerful and classic, the sculptured planes of body and pose succeed in conveying activity as well as attitude. The figures and messages are highly accessible to even the most casual observer. Trite phrases such as "less is more" and The sculptor with "The Conductor," as proposed for Southeast Financial Center, Miami. "simplicity is best" dance in the mind with new life as each piece forces the viewer to confront and acknowledge the harmony and commonality that bind human beings together. PHILOSOPHY Commenting on his definition of art, Art -Kara observes "when I see an artist's work, I feel I am seeing its energy quantized in time. My product of my time is this high- tech expressionism ... classicism sculpted in a. modern context." There is a body of contemporary thought that might label his timely work a social commentary on the latter half of the 20th century, in that it depicts no gender (unless intended), no age, no race, no nationality ... "that is my intent — we are one world, one humanity. Through technology, time has become shorter, communications broader ... we are reaching out into space and in the universal competition we are but one species." If there is an underlying theme and message that has evolved through Art's sculpture, it is the urging to recognize the fact of our shared humanity. We must focus on the similarities rather than the differences and move toward cohesion. These feelings led Art to his choice of materials. "Bronze is classical and as in Ancient Greek sculpture ... highly polished bronze has so much life." An artistic irony was Art's ex-post-facto discovery that the Greeks also polished their sculptures, that only time and submersion in the ocean had patined them moss green. INFLUENCE Influenced also by Julio Gonzales, Medardo Rosso and Alexander Calder, Art Art by Art Kara Art is energy. The potential extends from the Creation; the presence manifests in mind as Light. Artists quantize the Radiance to ideals, works —- Infinity, in virtual finitudes, associative — . aesthetic, Truth viewed. gives most credit to Michaelangelo's unfinished "Slaves" and Rodin's "The i Thinker." "My entire line [of sculptural j n Page 66 — March 1987 — Solares Hill form] was inspired by that one piece, ['The Thinker1]." Viewing it for the first time at the Musee Rodin in Paris, "I realized in a flash of light how it had been composed. I quickl_ sketched it, then returned the following day with a camera and tape measure. I came back to Key West and spent the next eight months working out my own piece." Through this singular catalyst, he felt he understood that through the harmony of the planes of a pose, body language is communicated and, if held to that, there are no limiting factors implied and body language in itself becomes an unspoken universal. ENDORSEMENT Rollie McKenna, renowned photo- grapher of literary figures, including poets Dylan Thomas, Robert Graves, and Robert Frost, co-exhibited with Art in January at Martello. She remarked: "Art Kara's bronze sculptures are skillfully executed and sensitively conceived, suggesting rather than describing human forms and aspirations. They cry out to become full-scale, even monumental, but at small size still they soar. He has an unusual blend of hand, head, and heart. Art's one of the most exciting young artists I've encountered." SELECTED WORKS "Challenger": [Not Pictured] A sculpture of a figure reaching toward the stars. Strong local support on Art's behalf comes from former State Representative Joe Allen, Senator Larry Plummer, former Key West mayor Richard Heyman, and most recently Mayor Tom Sawyer, for his entry in the i:.'ij "Testing the Waters" upcoming National Design Contest being sponsored by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation in Orlando, a competition for a memorial to honor and commemorate all lives lost in the United States' space program. With its strength and forward movement, I noted that this model brought considerable response at Martello, as its forcefulness elicits both sentiment and pride. "Testing the Waters": [Pictured] Inspired | in New York City. In momentary balance, it isolates the singular, exploratory toe in the water, as the arched elbows and expectant body await the outcome of the temperature test. Leo Rosshandler, former Director of the Musee des Beaux Arts in Montreal, in a private viewing and after several minutes of silent, multi-positioned study, slowly moved away from this piece and quietly declared, "You're going to go very far..." Rosshandler, over lunch, introduced Art to Dana Friis-Hanson, Acting Curator of the M.I.T. Collection at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Friis-Hanson encouraged Art to submit his portfolio to LEONARDO (Journal of the International Society for Arts, Sciences and Technology). Following by Art Kara I, a poet man, delve Light then cadence my diffractive sight. Obedient to the Father of suns, I verse to be, for He arid we, our souls One. (First published in Solares Hill, December 1982.) - through, Art received a request from LEONARDO to develop an article on art through the perspective of quantum theory. "Pianist's Hand": [Not Pictured] A microscopic perspective of music. Balance and symmetry merge in suspended motion, as an angular middle finger, poised just a breath above the ivory, is about to strike. "The Conductor": [Pictured] Music on a grander scale, as the magnitude of an orchestral leader's wielded power, impact and intensity are captured and magically juxtaposed to his itty-bitty baton. "Couple": [Not Pictured] Inspired in Key West, this depicts a common sleeping position with the affectionate posturing of lovers as they parallel their body lines in snuggled embrace. In a juried exhibition, in 1986, at Martello, this maquette was awarded "Outstanding Sculpture" by William Lieberman, Curator of the 20th Century Art Department, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. "En Pointe": [Pictured] Preceded by extensive visits to L'Ecole de Ballet Jazz in Montreal, to observe and sketch, and repeated trips to the library for research, the theme of this piece is "line." Very important to classical dance, it's what the dancer strives for. A woman on her toes, En Pointe achieves the perfect, classical line. "Coquette": [Not Pictured] Some critics might say, "We all know and love her." Few can resist the coy one as she lies on her stomach in the grass, resting on her elbows with arms outstretched and clasped in front, head turned over her shoulder, and legs bent in the air behind her. The nuance is captivating. "Crucifix": [Pictured] Inspired while at the Louvre, Art did his first model in paper while still in Paris. Not only does it show the corpse on the cross, but Christ ascending toward his destination, at the very moSemSf earthly death. His mortal weigh S s?en n the sag of the body, but his spirit in the winged a L s is taking flight toward S Earthlings - One People": [Not Pictured] This work-in-progress is mounted "En Pointe" on earth-toned marble to symbolize our common ground. A family of four: as three stand tall and reverent in salute to their flag, the youngest child tugs questioningly at his mother's skirt. It makes the point that not only do our traditions come through the family from our parents on down, but more importantly, it provides the international commentary that we are one humanity and, just as we share this practice of saluting our particular flag the world over, we share many others as well. It poses the planetary question of why don't we just all join and do it as one. INTEGRITY Art's commitment to integrity and authenticity is borne out in his extensive research of characteristic form prior to embarking on a piece. Art comments, "I like to research the form prior to doing it, so when it is completed the piece is for everyone, including the professionals ..." At every curve of a conversation with Art, one comes full face with his commitment to integrity. LARGER THAN LIFE Intended for major hotels, developments, corporate plazas, parks, and bther public spaces, his models are sculptural vignettes, to convey the poetry of the idea for commissioned enlargements. Art explains, "They are intended for Everyman." As time has proven that Key West writers flourish in American literature, so can we excel in the fine arts, when artists like Art Kara refresh and exhilarate us with . the stature and quality of timeless material. On seeing his work, my first thought was, "Why isn't this man in New York?" But on second thought, "Why not Key West?" _. Can't from pg. 50 straight, and scattered the days of the week so bad that Sunday didn't get around till late Thursday morning.' " • _ It was an exciting time to be in Key West; not only because of the writers, artists, and musicians who called it home, but because of the nature of the island. Paradoxically, though, he feels that locale is not really important to a writer, and he told a transfixed "audience about his days writing some ofthe best prose of his career while huddled with his family in a cramped two-room apartment in Beirut with only an airshaft for a view and anti-aircraft fire for distractions. "Good writers are good, and Phil Caputo (right) greets Randy for the Humanities. "The sounds of Key West and the smells of Key West were something else," Kennedy said with a laugh. The streets were full of singing minstrels, vendors hawking their wares in musical tones. "Lobsters were priced at three for a quarter and the people were all singing their wares. They made up their own songs about Key West," Kennedy recalled. Many of those songs were later recorded, he added, in a sort of musical oral history of the time and place. Kennedy's memories of the island in the '30s and '40s evoked a nostalgia for the good old days even in those who weren't in Key West — or, in some cases, anywhere else — at the time. Although Philip Caputo, in his speech, pointedly denied any attempt on his part to don the mande of Hemingway (he would be, at best, he said, "a pint-sized Papa," referring to his physical stature), much of what he seems to love about Key West hearkens back to the rough and tumble but largely uncomplicated era of lobstermen and shrimpers — skilled seamen rather than weekend condo dwellers , of drug-smugglers and gun-runners — direct descendants, he said, of the early pirate breed. Even today, Caputo conceded, daily life on the island offers a writer — and any of the other disparate bits of humanity who wind up there — "a sense of adventure." Primarily, though, he lives and writes in Key West because of the sea. "I love the sea, and I love the smell of it," he said. "Whether it's the scent of a salty trade wind or the rankness of low tide. I love to look at it, for it is always different and always the same, providing at once both diversity and constancy." Like Hemingway, Caputo is a sport fisherman, and for that the Gulf Stream offers unparalleled opportunity. But more than that, "the sea is like a deity,' he said. "It is mother to us all. The sea teaches what is enduring and what is transitory in this world, what is significant and what is trivial." Akers of the Florida Endowment great writers are great because God, and not their addresses, has made them so." Caputo argued that Key West "does not possess some magic that makes it more convenient for the creative act than, say, Seattle or Cedar Rapids." Why then, do writers congregate in Key West instead of Cedar Rapids? The answer to that must have been as obvious to the seminar-goers —- decked out in shorts and cotton shirts for comfort in those 80-degree January days, eager to soak up some of the late afternoon sun and perhaps get in a swim before heading for a fresh seafood dinner — as.it was to Wallace Stevens when he wrote to a friend after his first visit to Key West in 1922: "The place is a paradise. Mid- summer weather, the skies brilliant and clear and intensely blue, the sea blue and green." Bonnie Costello, who teaches English at Boston University and has written extensively on contemporary poetry, quoted from that letter in her comments on Stevens and Bishop and their years in Key West. Both Wallace and Stevens and Elizabeth Bishop used aspects of Key West as metaphors in their poetry. Stevens, Costello said, referred to the area's "venereal soil," suggesting both Venus and love as well as disease. For Stevens, this was a place to "experience pure being," and to see Florida as "floozy and goddess both." Ultimately, she said, Stevens saw in Key West a context for the creative spirit rather than an overwhelming natural phenomenon. Elizabeth Bishop, Costello said, was closer to what one might call a "regional poet" in that she filled her poetry with the flora and fauna that seemed to battle the island's inhabitants for control. For her, though, it was not a postcard paradise, Costello said, arid she saw it as a place haunted by things long dead: She wrote, "The state with the prettiest name turns out to be tied together with mangled roots and bespattered skeletons and traces of dead vegetation." Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 67 Indeed, Bishop found the tension between .1 the paradise • and the decay, as She put it, I "awful but cheerful." ' It is appropriate that portraits of both Bishop and Stevens were among those in the exhibition of photographs by Rollie McKenna featured at the East Martello Museum during the seminar. The exhibit, which featured McKenna's photographic portraits of distinguished American writers, included many who had made Key West their home. In his introduction to his reading the Key West poetry of Wallace Stevens, poet Richard Wilbur elaborated on the meaning of this place in Stevens' poetry. "The tropical South is the place that answers desire, the place that prompts imagination," he said. "It's also a place of vivid color; a place of physical beauty and sexuality." As for Bishop, poet James. Merrill, before reading from her poems, quoted from a letter she wrote to Robert Lowell around 1947 in which she humorously described the penchant for poetry among the natives of a very particular sort: "The only intellectual life here, I gather, is taking place belowstairs at the Casa Marina," she wrote, going on to discuss the "modern poetry addicts" among the dishwashers, maids, the newspaper concession girls of the island. The readings by Merrill and Wilbur were high points of Friday's program, providing quiet yet emotion-charged moments from another time but, curiously, not another place. Also moving was Helen Vendler's introduction of the two. She praised Merrill for his "gifts of social observation" and his ability to preserve "a tone of lightness and discretion and a texture of charm and ease even while touching the most serious possible subjects." She later spoke of the "verve and eloquence and wit" of Wilbur's poetry, and compared his "lyric melody" to that of Poe, his "harsh metaphysics" to the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Saturday's schedule also included a poetry reading, one done so deftly, with a sure balance of wry humor and deep feeling, that after reading a selection of the poems of his late friend and neighbor John Ciardi, Philip Burton was called back by the audience for a second bow. The distinguished Shakespearean scholar, author, and lecturer gave less a reading than a performance of such Ciardi poems as "Suburbia," "Alec," and excerpts from "A Knothole in Spent Time." Just as much of Friday's panel discussions were concerned with the Key West of the past, much time was spent Saturday looking at the Key West writers of today, and, spurred by that opening salvo from Philip Caputo, discussing the importance of the island in the contemporary world of literature. Alison Lurie, who has a special interest in the subject of "places" and the people who go there because it is one of the themes of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Foreign Affairs, suggested that Key West represents for the writers and artists who go there an opportunity to start over, echoing the lure that Scott Donaldson had said the island held for Hemingway. This is true not just of Key West,but of all "new places," Lurie said. "A move to a different city, a different state, a different country" Page 68 — March 1987 — Solares Hill offers "another chanee a t life'!," an opportunity to become a different person. This kind of move, she said, is an adventure, an exploration of one's self as well as of the world. Key West, she said, might well "make a writer more laid back," might ultimately make one's writing more sensual and more colorful. Lurie said there are three ways in which "place" can affect a writer: "The place can affect the writing directly (the writer can decide to set the story in that place); it can become a metaphor for a writer's ideas, state of mind and emotions; and a place can get into writing in a subtle way — it can affect your style and the way you look at the world." That distinction, so succinctly put, provided a way of delineating the importance of Key West in the works of the many writers mentioned during the course of the seminar. Novelists Thomas Sanchez, on the same panel — titled "Contemporary Key West Book Review: Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots: A Racing Odessey On The Border Of Obsession, by Sam Moses; September Press; 337 pp: $17^5 by John N. Cole I Resident writer Colin Jameson has once observed: "Key West is not like other places. Strictly speaking, Key West is not a place at all. It is a high-tension connection between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. High tension because here the distance between these bodies of water is less than a mile instead of hundreds of miles. The result is that there's enough electricity in the air to recharge everybody every day, which keeps the unexpected happening with monotonous regularity." Perhaps if Sam Moses had read Colin Jameson before he moved to Key West, he might have anticipated the electric turmoil that would overtake his life for two turbulent years. This is a book about those years: an honest, often gut-wrenching first- person account of a man struggling to succeed as a race car driver, and trying even harder to make some sense of a Key West love affair with a mysterious and mercurial woman named DD, a fifth-generation Conch who grew up next door to Tennessee Williams. Moses met her "one steamy October afternoon during the World Series," in an unnamed dark cocktail lounge where she was a waitress taking a break from life. "I was a flower in that dive," she told him, and within weeks she was his roommate in his "Southernmost Condo," a room with an ocean view. DD would later move out (they were down to their last lamp, he reports), but the relationship continued. It becomes one of the book's two narratives: . In an autobiographical tour de force, the author interweaves details of their emotional storm with his two-year saga on the racing circuit. Moses and DD are a pair of lovers as star- crossed as any in recent fact or fiction: I'd been back in town about three days when she called from the pay phone across Writers" and'moderated by Shenandoah editor James Boatwright, who eloquently praised the natural amenities of Key West — told the audience that the island had affected his writing in a very concrete way. After his move to Key West, the setting of a novel he had been working on for years suddenly became clear to him — it was to be set in, among other places, Key West. A major attraction for the modern writer, he said, is the continual ebb and flow, culturally and politically, of the island. He enjoys the company of what fiction editor Rust Hills, moderator of the panel on "Key West Observed," called the island's "mixed bag of literati: some distinguished poet, some schlock hack writers, popular novelists, literary novelists." For decades, this "mixed bag" has inhabited the island, just "so many species of literary waterfowl," in Caputo's words. Why Key West? Ultimately, after the speeches and the panels, the eager questions the street one night. I could see her as we talked, standing on the sidewalk in the headlight beams of her Mustang, but she couldn't see me, behind the screen in the window of the dark bedroom. It was a familiar little game of ours; we had these conversations often. She promised to be nice, and came up. We had a soft talk on the balcony, watching a soundless electrical storm over the horizon. Golden slivers of lightning split the clear black sky. Gigantic sparks. Attraction between charged opposites. I wondered what it would be like to be in a rowboat out there in the middle of it. We agreed on almost everything this night. We loved each other, we wanted to be with each other. But we didn't know how. She said that she'd had nuclear-bomb nightmares since childhood, and now her worst fear was that when the cloud came over the horizon we wouldn't be together when it hit. "Sometimes I feel like a stranger in a strange land," she said, "and you're the only one on my planet." Flattery got DD everywhere. We spread out some cushions and slept there that night, as the gigantic sparks silently broke over us. Make no mistake, however; Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots is more of a racing story thjm a love story (which is not to say that it's more about racing than it is about life). The book began when Moses, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who had written stories on things such as climbing mountains with cannibals in New Guinea and hunting bobcats on showshoes in the North Maine woods, was assigned to write a major behind-the-wheel account of the sport he regularly covered. But he was too true to it: He got hooked. Then he got hooked pn the volatile DD, and the magazine article exploded into a memoir, covering two years of racing, fighting, crashing, and other assorted passions. Much of the story is set in Key West, the . rest at big-time auto races, often at 150 miles an hour and Swetimes with no brakes. ^ B Moses writes the way he drove, and the way he loved DD: all-out, pedal to the and the thoughtful replies the answer appeared to be "Why not?" Indeed, the themes and subtexts of the pane discussion, the undercurrents of meaning gleaned from living and writing in an "island paradise, seemed to escape codification, to change as quickly as the speakers and scud through the auditorium as easily as the occasional cloud in the blazing blue sky outside. In the waning moments of the closing panel, Joy . Williams, novelist, short-story writer and part-time Key West resident, reminded the assembly of Marcel Proust's comment that "real books are written in darkness, from the soul and the heart. She added: The writer goes into a room, puts the blank page in the typewriter — a page,that may not want to be written upon at all — and listens to his own mind." There are, simply, few better places in the country to do the listening than Key West. metal, "WFO," as he says in the book (the "W" stands for Wide and the "O" for Open). The book's raw energy makes a reader relieved he was not on the track when Sam Moses made up his mind he wanted to pass. And he always wanted to: at Daytona, Sebring, Charlotte, Road Atlanta, Riverside and other circuits. Moses' desire to win reflected the desperation he so often endured with DD; the reader wonders if his unhappy racing endings would have been as frequent if his love life had been less chaotic. But even i t they hadn't, this would not have been a book to glamorize the events. Since its release last April, Fast Guys has been acclaimed in reviews for its brutal honesty (there's also been a movie offer, which is being considered). It's candid about cheating and gritty about commercialization in a sport where the bottom line is that success, spelled s-p-e-e-d, must be bought. By the end of the book, Moses is a Skoal Bandit driver, using his sponsor's snuff — "dippin1." All to go fast, to feed the driver's addiction, which is what the story is really about, he says. The book was published by September Press, which the author formed with his mother, former proprietor of Grandma Moses' Bookstore in Altoona, Pa. Son worked in Key West and Mom in Rhode' Island — "a little old lady in a coastal cottage with a PO box and a party line," he says. He ultimately was the book's protagonist, author, designer, publisher, distributor, marketer, publicist and salesman. Five thousand of the 338-page hardbound copies were printed, and about 4,500 of them have been sold in nine months, mostly mail order. In Key West, signed copies of Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots are available at Key West Island Bookstore on Fleming Street. Sam Moses has always been a reporter; ever since he began, he's been chasing the greasy pig called truth. In Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots he comes closer than most of us to catching it, and not only about auto racers and their world, but about his world, DD, Key West, and the human condition. Nit-Picking & Dreaming: A Conversational Profile of City Commissioner George Halloran by George Murphy Author's Note: There's probably no one in public life in Key West subject to more diverse and highly opinionated comment than City Commissioner George Halloran. I've heard him called an "intolerable impediment to progress," a "political anachronism," and a "pain-in-the-ass 'nit-picker.'" I've heard others refer to him as a "white knight" and the rarest of creatures: "an honest politician." I recently asked Halloran if he'd be willing to sit and talk about these perceptions of his performance, about his current term in office, about his political attitudes, and about his possible future as a commissioner. He accepted the invitation willingly and responded, in my opinion, openly and unhesitatingly to hours of inquiry. I am obliged as a journalist to acknowledge that, in the end, though I am often critical of Halloran's "tactics" and public demeanor, I find myself extremely close to the Commissioner's attitudes toward the city and to his political philosophies. That is not to say that I necessarily agree with his attitudes - expressed, understood, or implied - regarding any specific issues. Beyond having acknowledged that and for that reason (as well as the fact that this is an election- and/or re-election - year), the profile that follows is one from which I have attempted to remove myself and which I have constructed from Commissioner Halloran's own words. S.O.S.: The Beginning "Before I came to Key West, I used to be pretty active, not in government, but in neighborhood groups, that sort of thing. When I moved here, I pretty much, gave that up. Then I started seeing things in local government I didn't like. I remember going to a City Commission meeting back in '80 to speak about plans being formulated for Garrison Bight which would have affected me and some other boat owners. I remember standing up as a citizen and voicing my disagreement with some plans being put forth. I spoke my piece and and when I finished, Sonny McCoy, who was mayor at the time, leaned forward and said, 'We don't care about your views.' And it was true. They didn't. That was the attitude at the time. Indifference, arrogance. But I guess the real start came one day while I was puttying windows at home and listening to the radio. This fellow Bob Anderson was being interviewed about the ^•^'.^^•E^-5-as-a«*a jjjjrJ=rf'-ri.-.ra^5.-.s.'B-saitot*a».*a!J'J Simonton Street Beach, about how the Pier House had plans to take away the only public waterfront on that whole side of the island. I agreed with what he was saying and I called him on the phone and talked George with wife Marsha and daughter Katie. about what people might do to try to save it. Then he and I and Bill Kite started 'Save Our Shoreline1 or S.O.S. and we started a major battle. We went out to the shopping centers with petitions and the response was incredible. Sometimes we had two pads going at once with people who wanted to add their names to the protest. We started going to all the city meetings ...writing letters to the state agencies. The reason I finally ran was that I was up to my elbows already doing much of what I thought a City Commissioner should do, at least in that I was devoting a lot of time to trying to do something I firmly believed was important and beneficial to the citizens of this city. Too much of what was going on back then seemed to be going on in the "back room" and it infuriated me. I wanted to be privy to the "inside" information and I wanted to be telling the truth about what was going on. Campaign "Promises" "Originally, I didn't really want to run. There were other people involved with S.O.S. who I'd have preferred but, for one reason or another, they wouldn't run. My platform had four points: to get a grip on construction and growth, to find the land and money to build a sewer plant, to find a solution to the dump and solid waste problems, and fairness and honesty - for everybody. I remember my very last speech, the night before the election: If you ever want a favor from me in office,' I said, 'vote for someone else.' Given my attitudes about Key West politics, that was very important to me and I've discouraged people from trying to get special favors from me. People have come to me and said, 'Hey, can you do this or that for me?' and sometimes I've even been able to say, 'Listen, I really do think you're the best person for the job,' that sort of thing, 'but yo.u've got to ^ m e in before the commission just lipe anyone else.' And I've stuck to it. But I'll tell you, I was surprised. I \ uu: t-. Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 69 thought'Key West was a lot more open than it really is. , The City Charter allows me to go out and investigate things so I talk a lot to different city employees to try and get a sense of what's going on. And it's good to do. You learn a lot. In the past, there have been instances of commissioners going down to personnel and saying, "I want this guy hired and if you don't hire him, I'm going to have your job.' So someone gets hired. If someone wasn't liked, if a favor didn't get done, if someone didn't do the 'right' thing, or keep their mouths shut, they'd get fired or asked to resign. But that's really changed since the early eighties. I hear employees say, 'We've got a fair shot now. If we're honest and work hard, we'll get a fair shake. They'll see it. We'll get a raise. It isn't all friendships.' I really think that the majority of people are very happy with the way things have been going the past few years. The city used to be lurching from one emergency to the next. Our collection rate on garbage and sewer bills was 65%. Why the other 35% didn't have to pay was beyond the rest of us. We're now collecting at about 96%. Back in the early eighties, we were declared an 'Area of Critical Concern1 and the State said, 'You've got to make a Plan.' So, there was this Master Plan drawn up. The State liked it and said OK. Then it was ignored. There was an incredible void in the City Planner's office. Nobody was looking ahead. That's changed. There's been some pretty good long-term planning. We've hired experts and consultants when we needed to. We've hired good people for the city. We've raised salaries while we've held the millage rate. The Incinerator, the Sewer Plant, the sewer repairs downtown, the collection system, were all major problems that are now being solved. And this week bids are going out for the Simonton Street Beach project. The city didn't lose it. But don't get me wrong. I do not want to sound like I'm 'tooting my own horn.' Both of the past two elections have resulted in a lot of changes and both Commissions, I think, have done a lot of positive things. I've tried to do what I thought was the right thing for my 20% of it but I know that I have always been only 20% of any vote. Nit-Picking "Of course I've heard myself called a nit-picker and a pain in the neck. So what? I can't say how many times I'd open my agenda and go through it item by item and find, for example, a $36,000 payment to 'John Smith' for, something like, say, a 'light fixture,1 then calling downtown and saying, 'Didn't we already pay this?' or 'Isn't this a bit steep?' and then finding it off the agenda. Then, six months later, seeing it re-appear for $4,000v. :, fcu-i v i ' j V S ' A i > U 'i >->' : . " v • v '\ .'••"' V !~ ' V i i - i - , J i H H i i i Solares Hill — March 1987 — Page 71 . - • • \ Page 70 — March 1987 — Solares Hill Now don't take this as me trying to ran down our staff. We've got a great staff, but mistakes happen. But somebody's got to be looking, doing that grinding page-by-page work. I agreed to do this job and put the time into it. I get satisfaction from it. I'll admit there have been meetings when I was trying to hold up a developer for two more weeks until a new law would be in effect. You bet! I did everything: sought out every little Y that wasn't crossed, every little T that wasn't dotted, and did whatever I could to hold some things past a certain date, to lay on the table all the things I thought might be wrong with a certain project. It seemed to me we didn't have to give in to anything less than excellence. And why should we? I remember a hearing we sat through where some other commissioners were saying 'We want to fast-track this incinerator project and get the fastest unit we can build.' I knew what that meant. There was this little consortium and they wanted them to build it - the way they'd built the county units that are falling apart. And they didn't want a power plant with the capability for producing electricity. They wanted the quickest and cheapest. We kept fighting over how costly it would be. I remember going up to look at the Long Key plant and remember going into the building and the tremendous blast of heat coming out of those furnaces and all that heat going up the chimneys. Even the guy who was running the plant, operating it, said it was the biggest waste of energy on earth: 'look at those BTU's going up that stack.' And there was no way on earth I wanted to do that. Eventually, it turned around and we were going to get the best people we could to build it. We got Montenay, who has a good track record with these sort of projects, and now we've built a first-class plant, a power plant, using garbage for fuel. The city has built that plant without raising residential garbage rates. We'll take the electricity from this plant and plug it into the electric lines, and pay City Electric about a half-cent to wheel it for us over to Fleming Key to power the new Sewer plant. Basically, we'll get 'free' electricity. We'll get it for whatever it costs us to produce it with garbage for fuel. That's the sort of long-term planning that I think will really benefit the city. That's our new system. If the ideal is government for the people, I want to keep asking, 'Is this what the people want?' and "What do we get if we grant your wishes?' Listen, a 'nit' is a louse egg and, if you've ever had a child come home from school infected with lice, you know that, if you miss even one of them, seven days later, the problem is back. The most gratifying thing about this job is having someone tap your shoulder in line at the grocery and say, "Good work. Stick with it. Stay in there." "The Conch Revival" basically what should have been done years ag°'T hone enough people have been paying1 nope cuyu&rfUr,c r p n l i v been coins; * f thlse reversed, herereSeoro who could do the job I've always felt that, as far as land-developers are concerned, we didn't have to give in to them. We could demand excellence. We've got a very limited number of prime acres and I always felt that they should be coming to us and telling us what they were going to do to benefit the city - not that we needed to please them. Now we've finally got a Growth Management Ordinance that really pays attention to that. If you have a project with less density, more 'green space,' solar water heating, and other 'goodies," you get ranked at the top. "I hear - through the usual grapevines - that some members of the Chamber of Commerce and of other groups who are unhappy about the ways things have changed are banding together to run a campaign called 'The Conch Revival' and try to' undo what the Commission has done over the past few years. What I hear is that they want to run me out, they want to run the mayor out, and according to whose version you hear, the vote is split on Emma Cates, depending on whether she decides to run for mayor. Remember, all that's needed is three out of five votes, that majority. It's a catchy phrase and has built-in emotional hooks but, you know, I think most people in town, everybody from Conchs to last week's newcomers, do not want to go back to the way things used to be. The city's never been in better shape. We've got money coming in. Anybody who gets a service from the city has got to pay for it - or they get nothing. This is directly due to what I call 'The Paperwork Laws.' You no longer get a piece of paper from the city - a building permit, an occupational license, a variance ... anything - until you've paid your sewer and garbage bills — which to me is just normal. You're supposed to pay your bills. For years a lot of people didn't and now it's working. We're going to actually wind up this year with enough money to last us from when the budget year closes to the time taxes start coming in. We'll actually have transitional money. This has never happened before. The city, in the past, has had to operate hand-to-mouth, not knowing if it could make payroll. We were almost bankrupt in '83. Right now, we're in good financial shape. You know, some overdue credit is due to Bill Overfelt, our assistant City Manager. He's good at whipping things into shape and, last year, he won a National Award for Key West. It was the first time it's ever happened. We actually won an award for having our finances and annual statement in such good condition. The city is getting less and less attention from the state because we've instituted a set of controls. We've set up impact fees. We're collecting what's owed to us. We're treating this small piece of earth with respect. The commissioners have done 'I'll never quit. Never. 1987 So, yes, right now, I'm planning to run again. It's a critical time and I couldn't stand to see the forward movement slowed or halted. And I don't think it's going to happen. The continuing issue will be the management and control of growth. Also, the new sewer and garbage plants seem to be in place, but those projects have got to be watched carefully. If I run, I want to run on my record, on speaking my mind on the issues and sticking to what I promise. I see a continual uplift to this city to where we could become the little gem of a town we should be. It should be a place where - five or ten years from now - the people who come here ask, 'How did you do it? This town is wonderful! It has everything you need. It has the best climate in the world.' And it's our home. You know, this town is really an amazing place. We're hooked on to the UrS. but we really are the 'Conch Republic.1 The Conchs always knew what they had and so many of the rest of us came and stayed out of love ... for the independent spirit of the place and the neighborliness we found here. Let's get back to the basics of doing things for a good time - not just for money. And let's pay attention to keeping the quality of our lives the way we want it. There's too much street crime - muggings, car breaks, burglaries. Let's give our new Police Chief a chance. We need to find new sources of income for the city: ad valorum taxes ... maybe even cutting the millage rate. I'll keep after the tourist impact fee. Let's shoot for parking facilities with top rates for tourists and cheap rates for locals. Let's shift the weight off of locals. It's tough enough to get by. _ There's money coming into the city. AS we become more solvent, let's get back to public works - the streets and sidewalks. Let's get Smathers Beach regenerated. Let's plant trees. Let's keep planning. And let's hope for the best - for us all. What more can I say? 7-9 6-7 7-8 7-8 :3O-9:30 7:30 7:00 Noon $5 Donation S5 $5 Donation Donation Donation Free Full Schedule of Events During March at The Sanctuary Weekly Open Classes Mondays Personal Growth Mondays Course in Miracles Tuesdays Beginning Yoga Wednesdays Intermediate Yoga Wednesdays Guided Imagery & Meditation Thursdays Videos on Spiritual Life Fridays Introduction to Rebirthing Saturdays Meditation on Peace Special Events & Workshops Friday Nights - Live Music ~ 8 PM-10PM ~ Free David Lightman, Keith Ricks, Maggie Becker, Matthew Jampol, Tina & Philip, and others March 20 ~ Poetry Reading ~ Judith Kazantzis ~ 8 PM Saturday Morning Workshops ~ 9-12 Noon ~ $50.for 3 or $20 each session March 14 Self Esteem: Learning to Love Ourselves March 21 Intimacy: Learning to Let Others Love Us March 28 Putting It All Toghether: Letting Go of Past Patterns and Moving on to Better Relationships With Judy McGregor, M.S. Saturday Afternoon and Evening Workshops ~ March 14 Card Reading Worksho, with Joseph Farrar, 6:30-11 PM, $44 Transformational Masks, with Doris Martin, 2-6 PM, $35 Connective Tissue Workship, with Dale Alexander, PhD, 10-6 PM March 14 March 28 Sundays - March 8 March 15 March 15 March 22 March 29 Sunday Forum, Discussion Group with Joseph Farrar, 4-8 PM Introductory Relaxation Workshop, 2-6 PM, $35 Channeling Meditation, 9 PM, Free Working with Others, with Fred Lewtbn, M.S., 9 AM-4 PM Sunday Forum, Discussion Group with Joseph Farrar, 4-8 PM The Sanctuary A New Age Cafe, Gallery and Healing Center 530 Simonton Street 294-7104 Key West's Premier Full Service Real Estate Company DONALD CMATHIEU Licensed Real Estate Broker OPEN SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS (305) 294-3600,296-7766 P.O. BOX 1737 • 400 SIMONTON STREET KEY WEST, FLORIDA 33041 MS.S Porsche Design - Jones - Bolle - Mikli - Oakley - Laura Biagiotti - Ted Lapidus - 5" S1 (A to I With the purchase of any Vaurnet Sunglasses, a o Vuarnet Tote Bag Valued at 12.95 Off all Ray bans 335 Duval Street 301 Front Street Now at 2 locations to serve you better Si o CQ c: Q c - I s 2 o toc CD •ft CD Revo - Novelty - Foster Grant - Mountain Shades - Clip-ons - Punk - Serengetti - Page 72 — February 1987 — Solares Hill 501 Duval Street • Key West, FL 33040 • (305) 294-5959 • 294-

1987-03 Solares Hill Newspaper, Vol. 15 No. 3, March 1987

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Florida Keys History Center

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