Jimmy Buffett died last night.
This isn't a post about that, not really.
While I'll miss hearing new music from him, I don't mourn him. I didn't know him; I have no illusions that I had a clue about the man behind the legend. Few similarities exist between the Gulf and Western icon father and my own dad, but I feel a heartbreaking kinship of mourning with his daughters.
A few weeks ago, my dad died unexpectedly.
I have a lot of wonderful memories of my father. His death was so unexpected, and still so raw, that those memories still assault me at odd times. Grief is like, my friend Tamara says, a ball banging around inside a box. Sometimes it slams into...
Tag Archives: Florida Beaches
RIP: The Tevas That Helped Me Reclaim My Life
Today, I'm so much more than my water shoes. Of course I am. What woman describes her life in shoes? But still, I feel compelled to not let these shoes pass without paying homage to what they've meant me. They've been my freedom, my solace, and my salvation.
My talk with Miami Beach Mayor — and gubernatorial candidate — Philip Levine
OK, so Philip Levine hasn't technically announced his candidacy yet, but he's definitely more active, state-wide, then most mayors. I'm pretty sure he isn't traveling the state because life is simply too hard or boring or cold in Miami Beach, but hey, I've been wrong before. A few months back, my buddy Craig Pittman (sign up for his weekly email of Florida-stuffs) responded to an email suggesting Mayor Levine could find better reading than T.D. Allman's widely-discredited and admittedly poor-researched Finding Florida. In that email, Craig included my book — Backroads of Paradise — as one the Mayor should read. Mayor Levine decided he wanted to talk to me, so he arranged for a radio interview. He listened more than he talked, which was not what I expected. Will I vote for him? Folks, honestly, I'm voting for whichever Democrat will...
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