MEET COCOA! We brought this sweet and smart girl home last Sunday. At first, leaving the couch was very scary for this formerly neglected angel. But she is so brave and coming more out of her shell every day! Even Creamy and Phyllis like her 😂 She loves snuggles, burying dental chews in her blankets, and running laps at the dog park. She hates giant trash cans and oversized trucks with souped up engines (same). We love our hound girl ❤️
From margarita glasses in the clouds to chickens on the stage we had another amazing time playing @justafewfriendskeywest festival again this year. We even had a cameo on Good Morning America. If you haven’t yet go like our tribute band’s page, @gypsiesinthepalace . Mark your calendars for Labor Day 2026 and come down island to hang out with us.
Thanks for the best 15 years of my life @bookscatspilates . I couldn’t ask for a better partner to do life with. I can’t wait to see what the next 15 hold.
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since @mcfpub was kind of enough to put this out in the world. We sold out of the first printing late last year and the second one is going strong. Thanks so much to everyone who bought a copy and has read it so far!
I’ll be giving a talk on my book Mr. Bojangles, Dance at the Louisville Book Festival next Saturday October 19th at 11am. If you are in the Louisville area I’d love to see you. This picture was taken the first time Sammy and Nixon met, backstage at the Copacabana night club in 1954. Left to right you have Sammy Davis Sr., Sammy Davis Jr., Richard Nixon, Will Mastin and Jerry Lewis. @louisvillebookfestival
Seeing as how I wrote a narrative non fiction book, it will probably come as no surprise to y’all that I’m a big fan of the genre. I read this one when it came out 12 years ago. I read it again this week. I’ve recommended it to people so often I thought I ought to see if it still held up a decade later. It absolutely does and then some.
Sam Zemurray might be the most influential person of the 20th century you’ve never heard of. He immigrated from Russia in the 1890’s and began selling discarded fruit in whistle stop towns between New Orleans and Selma, Alabama where he had settled. In a few years he would run one of the largest corporations in the world, United Fruit Company. A classic American pull yourself up by your bootstraps story.
But then there is the other side. He raised a private army and overthrew the government of Honduras in the 1930s. In the 50’s, Guatemala proved too big a problem for mercenaries. So he hired the CIA to do the job.
Sam the Banana Man’s exploits are both profoundly impressive and depressing. He built a fortune and made the banana a staple of the American diet. Before Zemurray, few Americans had ever seen a banana. But his life is also the story of what is meant when you hear the phrase “defending American interest.” Often those interest are the profits of major corporations. Not the interest of the American public. Additionally, one can see a direct line between what Zemurray sat in motion on the Central American isthmus and our modern immigration debate.
This a fascinating story that more people should know. @author.richcohen concise and fascinating book is an excellent introduction.
I’m performing the Jerry Jeff Walker version of this Tom Waits song at the 5 Spot this afternoon as part of Americana Fest’s remembrance of the great Mary Sack. If you are one my Nashville friends with nothing to do at 330 on a Wednesday, come hang.
I’m getting back to normal here in Nashville after an epic week on the island playing shows and celebrating the life and times of @jimmybuffett . I’m beyond grateful to have been a part of it. Mark your calendars because we are doing it again next year! @gypsiesinthepalace
