Man Overboard

MAN OVERBOARD

In 1994, city workers in Tampa, Florida, uncovered a series of underground passageways and rooms while installing a new storm drainage system in the old Latin town known as Ybor City. One chamber held an oak bar with empty wine and liquor bottles, suggesting that the place might have been a speakeasy during Prohibition.

Also found in this room were boxes of premium handmade cigars, a straw fedora, a gold key-shaped pin with a missing stone and a file, dated 1928, containing the case notes of a private detective named William Heart, a.k.a. Billy Corazon. This is his story.


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Poets and Pineapples


Geez, it's been four months since I posted anything on my brand spankin' new blog. Four months I'd be happy to just completely wipe from my memory banks. There have been some bright points, though. Seeing poets Gianna Russo and Silvia Curbelo read again at David Audet's word fest Deep Carnivale. Discovering Emanuel Leto. His reading was so good, so evocative of Ybor's angsty history, it almost made me cry. In addition to being a spoken word star around these parts, he has been managing editor of the wonderful Cigar City magazine, but recently moved to a position as outreach program coordinator at the Tampa Bay History Center.
Ah, the other bright point? Growing these outrageous pineapples all over my yard.
I'll pull out of this malaise soon and start posting regularly about stuff you might not know about Florida and the Tampa Bay area.


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Lara
I have to agree with you on the readings Manny did at the Deep Carnivale, as the Publisher of Cigar City Magazine and a close friend to Manny I was even pleasantly surprised! I was very proud of him that day and he continues to make me proud in the pages of CCM. Even though Manny did take a position at the TBHC just wanted to let you know he is still the managing Editor at Cigar City Magazine as well and if things go my way he always will be. It was nice meeting you at the Deep Carnivale, Ybor should have more events like this one.
Sincerely
Lisa M. Figueredo

Susan F Edwards said...

Dang! It's been awhile since I checked this blog. I just ran into Manny this week at the Forest Hills neighborhood association meeting, where he tried to give a presentation about the museum. He told me he was still at the mag, which I was glad to hear. Lisa, I love the mag and the website. You have done such a great job with it.