Sunday, February 24, 2008

Key West, Florida & Captain Tony

As part of my nationwide book and speaking tour, I was recently in Florida and spent time in both Miami and Key West, the latter being where I wrote a substantial portion of the book when I lived there for 3 months. It was nice to return for a few days to a place that is so special to me. I am also pleased to announce that the "Historic Cigar Alley" store in Old Town Key West is now stocking my book -- technically, I think that this makes them my "Southernmost Bookseller in the United States." If you ever make it to Key West, please stop by and say hello to the owner, Chris -- I will also likely be returning in a couple of months for another book signing.

On the visit to Key West, I also got to meet up with an old friend -- the infamous Captain Tony. At 91 years old, this guy is a true living legend with LOTS of stories who has been friends with Jimmy Buffett for many years. After coming to Key West in 1948 (he was running from the NJ mob due to some gambling "problems"), he ran a bar for many years and was elected mayor in 1989 after 4 previous tries. He now has 14 children and still stops by his old bar occasionally. I met Captain Tony the first night I arrived in Key West back in 2005 and he told me to come see him again once the book was done, which I did on this recent visit as you can see by the photo.

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