In December 1955, a brief news item in a national publication reported the arrest of a Black woman and a white man at a Miami motel. They were arrested for vagrancy, at the time a vague charge wielded by police against activity deemed undesirable — in this instance two people meeting, likely for sex, in [...]
In late 1958, Hollywood swashbuckler Errol Flynn found himself in the middle of a real-life adventure more improbable than the plot of any film he ever made: the Cuban revolution. The episode was a fitting climax to mid-20th century Cuba’s obsession with American movies — a fixation that led Havana to boast of more movie [...]
Miami's informal soccer culture is one of the few things that regularly brings together people in this sprawling, impersonal city. The Pick-Up Game captures this love of “the world’s game” in a diverse array of settings — a striving Haitian-American immigrant community, four stories high in the financial district, and even under the highway. Part of [...]
Jossie and Miguel Alonso’s move into their stately Havana home coincided with the arrival of the Cuban revolution. While their neighbors in the upper-class Vedado district left Cuba for exile, Miguel and Jossie remained. For them, the house was a sanctuary, the last link to the life they had once known. Now a widow, Jossie [...]
In the early 1960s, architect Hilario Candela designed the first venue ever built for powerboat racing: Miami Marine Stadium. An icon of mid-20th century Modernism, the stadium also hosted concerts, boxing matches, political rallies, and church services. A defining meeting place for the community, it was shuttered after Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida in 1992. [...]
Opened in 1925, Hialeah Park became one of America’s most storied horse tracks, home to Triple Crown winners and boldface society names. But, by 1974, it was on the verge of closing, a victim of changing economics and sporting tastes. That's when businessman John Brunetti, against the advice of almost everyone, gambled on the ailing [...]
Gay Talese helped pioneer New Journalism, penned what is widely considered the greatest of all magazine stories (“Frank Sinatra Has a Cold”, for Esquire), and wrote celebrated books on the Mafia, the media, and the sexual revolution. For more than 50 years, he has interviewed and rubbed shoulders with thousands of people — some famous, some [...]
