Published on November 25th, 2019 in the Miami Herald: White sand beneath your feet. Clear water lapping at the shore. Cool shade under the buttonwood trees. You’ve landed on Bird Key, Biscayne Bay’s oldest deserted island, where tropical birds chatter loudly in the treetops and piles of trash have, for decades, been the clearest reminder that you’re still in urban Miami. This month, the tide finally turned for this nearly seven-acre sliver of sullied paradise, which sits just south of […]

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Published on October 29th, 2019 in the Miami New Times: Autumn rain flowed off Villa Paula’s rooftop balustrades, down the whitewashed columns, and across the colorful Cuban patio tiles. Two statues of Greek gods stood nearby, dripping amid pink bougainvilleas in the home’s garden. Only a concrete sarcophagus in the corner of the backyard avoided a soaking. The thick roots of a ficus tree had grown over it, gripping it claw-like and funneling away the downpour. It would take a […]

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Published in the April, 2014 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: On a Saturday in February, a three-year-old horse named General a Rod takes his place on the racetrack at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach. Betting odds project him to finish third, behind two strapping Kentucky thoroughbreds named Commissioner and Top Billing. Blue skies and an ocean breeze favor the near-capacity crowd, which has come to watch the day’s 12 races. Each race offers a purse, ranging from $34,500 to $200,000, to […]

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Published in the September, 2013 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: I wanted to be carried away by the clickety-clack romance of steel wheels and sway along the rails from Miami to Orlando, brimming with nostalgia. I wanted to watch wild palms and citrus groves unfurl outside big windows while I reflected on life, as travelers often do. I had read reviews online before buying my ticket. People raved. They said they’d choose Amtrak any day over driving or flying to Orlando, […]

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The Canoe Project was a four-day paddling expedition to circumnavigate Miami-Dade county via its murky drainage canals in a canoe. The journey was live-tweeted (storify) and the resulting story was published in the Miami Herald (pdf) and broadcasted on WLRN (South Florida’s NPR radio station). The story is reprinted below (with photo links at the bottom)

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Published in the July, 2011 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: When Rene Martinez opens the front door of his house, he sees nothing but cars. From the back door, it’s the same view. In fact, no matter which window or door he looks out of, the scenery is the same. That’s because his home sits in the middle of a 200-car parking lot. “I’m in love,” says Martinez. “I’m in my spot. What goes on around me, I don’t […]

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Read in front of a live audience in Miami and broadcasted on June 4th, 2011 on South Florida’s NPR station, WLRN:  “In Miami, sex is always just around the corner.” Those are the words of my Cuban friend José. Not too long ago I found sex in Hialeah, literally, on a corner. Rosa was an older woman, probably in her fifties. She sold cold bottles of water at a busy intersection in a part of Miami that never makes it […]

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Published in the February, 2011 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: The streets are lined with stout glass towers, perfect palm trees planted in perfect rows, private boat slips, golf courses, jogging paths, faux-Mediterranean townhomes, and all the usual emblems of an upscale, South Florida suburban community. This is Aventura, an unmistakably American version of paradise where stray foliage doesn’t stand a chance, zoning codes seem like scripture, and residential enclaves boast more security than a South American drug ranch. […]

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Published in the June, 2010 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: On the quiet Oleta River in North Miami Beach, where tall mangrove forests grow along the ancient shorelines and block out the noise of the city beyond, a nine-person crew sits in a long, hand-painted boat, waiting for an order. Bent forward, arms poised at the ready, their fists clench long wooden paddles. A steersman, standing at the stern, grips the skiff’s rudder by the handle and issues his […]

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Published in the March 5th, 2010 issue of The Lead newspaper: Artist Franklin Sinanan delivered six paintings and one sculpture to Miami Beach City Hall early last month. His work was put on display there as part of a Black History Month art exhibit. Since dropping off his artwork, however, Sinanan has revisited City Hall twice to remove pieces the city later decided were inappropriate.

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Published in the March, 2010 issue of Miami Art Guide magazine: Like many artists who ply their trade in studios, warehouses, and garages around the world, David Zalben says it’s not about the money. It’s about connecting with people. “Every day I’m here is an opportunity to meet somebody new. It’s not just about making a sale.”

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He didn’t like drugs or gangs or violence — he liked pretty girls, and that may have killed him. Published in the January, 2010 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: The days when Miami was awash in cocaine, cash, and bullet-riddled bodies are over. Today art gallery owners likely outnumber drug lords, and running gun battles are far less common than book fairs, art festivals, music conferences, and fashion shows. What was once the nation’s murder capital is now a […]

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Published in the September, 2009 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: Miami art collectors Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz are well along in the construction of their expansive new Design District museum that will showcase their world-renowned collection of contemporary art. It is scheduled to open in time for Art Basel Miami Beach in December. And although their art may be new, across the street from their building, where they’re planning a parking lot, they are dealing with something […]

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Published in the January, 2009 issue of The Writer magazine:   Literary agent Taryn Fagerness of the Sandra Dijkstra Agency recently lectured at Miami Dade College in downtown Miami about the best way to approach an agent. She dished out advice to aspiring writers during a four-day literary event hosted by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts. Here’s what she had to say: To read more, click here.

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Published in the September, 2008 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: No one seems to know when exactly Frank Sinatra stayed at the historic Vagabond Motel at 7301 Biscayne Blvd. But everyone over a certain age is required to have at least one Sinatra tale to tell, and Eric Silverman, the Vagabond’s charismatic 55-year-old owner, is no exception. “This place was a retreat for guys like Sinatra, away from the spotlight of Miami Beach,” he says. “It’s not like there […]

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Published in the July, 2008 issue of the Biscayne Times newspaper: The Miami Police Department’s Annual Crime Report for 2007, available since May of this year, is slowly making its way through sluggish distribution channels and beginning to arrive in mailboxes across the city. The sleek little booklet organizes the Magic City’s crime statistics into aesthetically-pleasing graphs and colorful pie charts that would impress even the sternest grade-school teacher. But residents familiar with the streets of Miami are likely to […]

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