Michael A. Pyle's Blog, page 176

Fresh Book Festival – A Tremendous Event

The F.R.E.S.H. Book Festival is the best book event I have attended as an author. Many more attendees visited my table and spent time talking to me about my book than at other events. Attendees also purchased I many more copies of White Su…See More

— at Midtown Cultural & Educational Center.

FRESH Book Festival – This Weekend

This is the big event this weekend. Omar Tyree will be speaking Friday night and Saturday afternoon. I will be speaking Saturday morning. There will be a great number of authors talking about and selling books, as well as poets reading poetry, artists, etc. Don’t miss it. — at Midtown Cultural & Educational Center in Daytona Beach. 

My Review of Waiting for Snow in Havana on Goodreads

5 Starts out of

The author was one of the children who left Cuba on the Peter Pan flights in 1962, without his parents. The book relates his life in Cuba, and in orphanages and foster homes in the U.S. The story is common, but the perspective is fresh and compelling.

The book is sometimes funny, sometimes sad. There are even a few items covered that I found a bit uninteresting. But the description of wealth and comfort lost, of fear of the unknown, of coping with a new life, with no prior preparation, is very informative. The author speaks of the time when the Revolutionary government took over and everything changed as the time when “The World Changed.”

He explains certain events, such as the exodus of Batista, Castro and his cronies coming in, the murder of believers of both governments, the loss of Christmas in late 1958, when the rebels were coming out of the hills to take over, and the subsequent events.

Waiting for Snow in Havana is a moving, true-to-life account of a child’s loss of everything, and survival in a new world.

 

 

Featured Author at F.R.E.S.H. Book Festival January 3 and 4

A premiere book event is coming up soon. It’s called F.R.E.S.H. Book Festival. Omar Tyree  is the Special Guest. He will be speaking on Saturday afternoon. I am one of four invited featured authors, and am speaking Saturday morning. There are a number of other authors as well. There will be presentations by authors, poetry readings, a banquet, jazz, photography, art, etc., etc. And, of course, everybody will be selling and signing books. You shouldn’t miss it. The attached card tells when I am speaking. So, come and visit.

— at Midtown Cultural & Educational Center.

Readers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2013 – Wall Street Journal Book Club

Thanks to you, The Wall Street Journal has listed White Sugar, Brown Sugar as number 2 on its “Reader’s Choice – The Best Books of 2013”.

Readers posted their nominations on Facebook, Twitter and Speakeasy. Pretty amazing to see White Sugar, Brown Sugar listed next to a book by Bill O’Reilly!

Here’s a link to the complete article:  Reader’s Choice – The Best Books of 2013

………….

2. “White Sugar Brown Sugar” by Michael A. Pyle -

“@WSJ White Sugar, Brown Sugar by Michael Pyle. Gripping & important novel @ friendship, addiction, 1960s, race and hope ‪#WSJbookclub”

“True, well written, heart wrenching story about the struggles of addiction.”

 

 

“We Shall Return”, Starring Cesar Romero, Filmed in Daytona

We Shall Return is a very melodramatic, 1963, black and white, B movie, but if you are interested in Cuba, what happened in the early years of the revolution, Cubans fleeing, Cubans returning to fight, and Daytona Beach, Florida, it contains all of it.  Cuban intrigue, post Batista / early Castro.  The Cuban military look just like the Barbudos, or like Castro himself. Cesar Romero, his son, and the son’s girlfriend escape Cuba on nice cabin cruiser, while being shot at by bearded soldiers dressed like Fidel, and arrive in Miami.

 

They are looking for another son of Cesar, who is on a different political side, and are told he’s in Daytona Beach. The refugees board a Greyhound Bus to Daytona Beach.

They say they do not want the charity to which they are entitled, and want to work.  But it’s not easy finding work in Daytona.  The girl is offered a job in a strip club, which she accepts, until her future father in law has a fit.  Cesar Romero. enters a diner, asks for a glass of water, and doesn’t want to buy anything.  The man working in the diner says, “Ever since that revolution down there, every spic and his brother thinks they can come in here …”  Ugh.  Embarrassing that that would be how Daytona is portrayed.

Since Cesar can’t find work, Nina takes the job.  She buys food and goes home.  Cesar scolds her and tells her never gain. She meets a young hustler, who sends her to another place to work, as a scantily clad cigarette girl at a bath and tennis club. (that is the only part that seems to be filmed elsewhere, in St. Augustine.

Listening to Cuba radio, the girl learns her brother has just been executed as a traitor. The film also shows the problems that arose when Cubans thought they should follow Fidel to escape the tyranny of Batista, only to later become disillusioned. It reflects how people followed one or the other and then suffered, or changed their minds.

Political disagreement regarding Cuba, is a main thrust.

You’ll see the City Island docks, the Beach Street firehouse, the Yacht Club, the old City Island Library, Seabreeze Blvd. the boardwalk, the clock tower, an actual phone booth near the clock tower, if you’ve ever seen a phone booth, the pier, cars driving on the beach, etc.  At the end, you’ll see everything around the lighthouse, the dunes at the inlet and even that old abandoned building made of some brick-like material that was on the point at the inlet.  Recognizing the Daytona landmarks is entertaining.

Here is the IMDB information about the movie. You can perhaps find it there.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057673/

We Shall Return  is a 1963 American drama film directed by Philip S. Goodman, starring Cesar Romero and Anthony Ray. It follows the flight of and eventual return of Cuban refugees following the Cuban Revolution of 1959. It features a fictitious plan to overthrow Fidel Castro, which proves successful, allowing the emigres to go home. Shot predominantly on location in Florida, the film would have its world premiere there as well, on February 15, 1963.[1][2]




Directed by


Phillip S. Goodman




Written by


Pat Frank
Mel Arrighi




Starring


Cesar Romero
Anthony Ray




Distributed by


United International Pictures




Release dates


February 15, 1963




Country


United States




Language


English





Instead, I found it through the I Grew Up In Daytona Beach Facebook Page, which has a link to a UTube video.  Warning, there’s a very silly introduction to the UTube video, but once you get past it. The whole movie is there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNKIaoFkAss&feature=youtu.be

The Daytona Beach Pier of Days Past

One of the focal points of White Sugar, Brown Sugar is the beach area at the beach approach by Main Street in Daytona Beach, and its long existing ocean pier.

The first photo below shows the pier when the Casino was planned, and construction starting, while the second shows a closeup at a different time in the past.

The early history of the pier is described on this official City of Daytona Beach web site:  ”The original pier, constructed of palm logs, was built before the turn of the 20th century and extended 600 feet into the ocean. It was built by Thomas Keating and was known as the Keating Pier. It was located at the end of Main Street, where the present pier is located.

On January 20, 1920 a tremendous fire destroyed the pavilion and most of the pier.  In 1924, Keating sold the remains of the pier to Jeter McMillan who tore it down and began construction of a new pier.  The new Pier Casino opened on June 11, 1925. The pier was 1,000 feet in length and featured a Victorian style building. Its ornate ballroom could accommodate 2,000 dancers and hosted some of the top bands of the day. In addition to dances, the Pier Casino was the scene of charity balls, weddings, beauty contest, social events as well as civic meetings.”

Daytona Beach Pier Approx 1926 – Florida State Archives:

Daytona Beach Pier – 1953

 

Daytona Beach Pier – 60′s

In White Sugar, Brown Sugar, the character Jude stands on the pier in the late 1960s or early 1970s, while under the influence of LSD:

“A steady breeze blew his hair over his face. To the north and south, tiny lights of motels sparkled and pulsated. The old wooden pier seemed to creak under his feet. A sign over the entrance to the pier bar said “Allman Joys”.

….

A strong gust of wind came up and he rode in his mind on the long guitar riff of bluesy, southern rock and roll. It had a flavor and visual hallucinations — stars, z’s, zig-zags, in living color.

Waves crashed below, leaving white frothy foam dancing in the moonlight.”

The Daytona Beach Pier – 2013

1915 Coquina Bridge Over Main Street Daytona Beach Approach

Connecting with the Community Kick-Off Talk

Nancy Long, author of The Life and Legacy of Mary McCleod Bethune, spoke about the book this Saturday at the Daytona Beach Regional Library at City Island.

The talk was extremely informative, and I and others learned things we did not know.  But the audience had a number of attendees who had their own historical accounts to to tell. Some of them were students at Bethune-Cookman many years ago, had known and loved Mary McCleod Bethune well,  had been connected to other churches and organizations that she was connected in.

I, for one, learned quite a bit of information that I did not previously know.The more I learn about this great woman’s accomplishments, the more amazed i am.  The talk was excellent and  important.

Nancy Long is a retired professor from Bethune Cookman, and also is very involved in the restoration of Lillian Place and another home next door to it.

Her talk was the first of a series of talks put on by the Library and Friends of the Daytona Beach Library, and is sponsored by a grant by the Florida Humanities Council.  The other talks that are part of the same cultural program under the grant are shown on the attached save-the-date mailing which will be sent out soon.

Dr. Long Presents – Life and Legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune at City Island Library

The Kick-off Program  of the Daytona Beach City Island Library’s Friends of the Library Grant from the Florida Humanities Council is this Saturday:

Life and Legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune

Dr. Nancy Long will offer the inaugural presentation in a new series of programs, Connecting with the Community.  She will discuss highlights from her book, The Life and Legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.  Her book documents Dr. Bethune’s early years and how developments during that time influenced her later accomplishments.

Dr. Long is a retired professor of English at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach.  She has a Ph.D. in English Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Central Florida.

Saturday, November 16, 2013 at 2 pm at the Daytona Beach Library on City Island.

For more information call Deborah Shafer at 257-6036, ext. 16264.

This program is sponsored by the Daytona Beach Library Friends and VCPL, with support from the Florida Humanities Council.