A glimpse into Miami’s diverse and quirky glory and drug lore glitz

Many of my experiences researching Fringe Florida didn’t make it into the final manuscript. One chapter, the pursuit of Miami drug lore glitz, landed at the bottom of a screwdriver in Mac’s Club Deuce in South Beach.

Here’s a piece about it that ran in the Miami Herald and is archived with HistoryMiami, a Smithsonian affiliate.

And always, there is more to the story…

I’ve visited Miami often over the past 20 years, sleeping on friends’ couches, perusing thrift stores, gorging on ceviche, watching the ever-changing crowd along Ocean Drive. But it wasn’t until 2009, when I stepped outside all comfort zones to research my book Fringe Florida, that I got an inside glimpse into the diverse and quirky glory that defines Miami.

My research trip was a whirlwind of interactions with everyone from python owners to nightclub promoters. I kicked it off with a day at a swinger’s convention at a hotel downtown, where waiters in guayaberas served drinks to randy nude couples.

Fringe Florida is a book about the state’s unusual and sometimes illicit subcultures. In Miami, you don’t have to dig too deep to find Middle Earth…

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