Category: The Book Detective

Architecture, Archives, The Book Detective, Uncategorized

When the Illusory is Real: Richard Haas’ Fontainebleau Trompe-l’oeil Mural

Perhaps it was foreboding, ominous, or just plain bad luck, but in 1986, when Richard Haas’s iconic mural on a side addition of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach was christened, the Mayor of Miami Beach Alex Daoud tried to smash a champagne bottle on the wall and couldn’t. The bottle didn’t break. Around a decade later, Mayor Daoud was indicted on forty-one counts of bribery and … Continue reading When the Illusory is Real: Richard Haas’ Fontainebleau Trompe-l’oeil Mural

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Archives, environment, The Book Detective, Uncategorized

The Man Who Built South Florida: The Landscape Designs of William Lyman Phillips

Imagine the wilderness of South Florida. In your head, right now. Born and raised native, resident, or visitor, everyone can concoct a vision of sprawling mangroves clasping the shoreline, sawgrass slicing through the slough, or lush sea grape hanging over the sand dunes. Feel the breeze. Let any version of being outside in the tropics come into your thoughts. Relax. There’s a man who lived … Continue reading The Man Who Built South Florida: The Landscape Designs of William Lyman Phillips

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Archives, The Book Detective

The Bunny Yeager Collection

Not long ago I told my mother—always curious about my day-to-day life as a writer—that I was working on this very essay about Bunny Yeager the famous pin-up model and fashion photographer. She laughed knowingly and then instantly demurred. After some prodding on my part, my mother finally admitted that the “world’s prettiest photographer,” had once photographed her in bikini. Apparently Yeager, according to mom, … Continue reading The Bunny Yeager Collection

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Books, Events, The Book Detective

Spectral Collections: The Jackie Gleason Collection

The first time I opened a book from the Jackie Gleason Collection, a single long, wiry strand of white hair plunged forward from its pages. The book was Confessions of a Spiritualist (1921) by Arthur Conan Doyle, the wizardly creator of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle dabbled in mediums and other worlds, so I figured it was as good a place to start as any, but that … Continue reading Spectral Collections: The Jackie Gleason Collection

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Exhibits, The Book Detective, Zines

Flori-zines! Zines from Florida on Display in Special Collections

Flori-zines: Underground Voices from the Sunshine State is a show currently on view in Special Collections consisting of limited edition and unique zines from Florida. Curator Cristina Favretto coined the neologism “Flori-zines” for the Miami and Florida portion of the exhibit, which takes the viewer on a visual journey through the counterculture and fringe lifestyles not usually associated with the state. National and international zines, … Continue reading Flori-zines! Zines from Florida on Display in Special Collections

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The Book Detective

Real Treasure: Rare Books about Piracy

“The history of one Pirate is nearly the history of all.” –Lucretia Parker In 1951, a respectable newspaperman from Wichita passed away and sold his collection of books to the Wichita Public Library for the sum of $10,000. His name was Charles B. Driscoll, and he was a popular Midwestern columnist, who later corresponded from New York, in the expansively syndicated column “New York By … Continue reading Real Treasure: Rare Books about Piracy

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The Book Detective

The Helen Muir Collection

In a 1986 letter, writer and Florida Historian Helen Muir politely accepted an offer to an exclusive women’s club on Miami Beach from Wolfsonian-FIU Founder Micky Wolfson, but in the next sentence requested helicopter service for old ladies from her home of Coconut Grove. This image of a mobilized ensemble of grandmothers flying over the city of Miami on its way to discuss the important … Continue reading The Helen Muir Collection

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