Sunday, December 07, 2008

R.I.P. Captain Tony

Anthony Tarracino died this week at 92. Visitors to Key West, Florida knew him as Captain Tony. His bar, around the corner from the current location of Sloppy Joe's on Duval Street, was reportedly the original location of that famous bar, and if Hemmingway drank there, it was at that locale. He was the best known character, except for Jimmy Buffett, in a town of characters and nobody went to Key West without hearing his name. My Audio Reader business card is stapled to the wall, along with a million others, in the bar that still bears his name, though he sold it nearly 20 years ago which was the last time I saw Captain Tony, tooling around in a small car with his face painted on the side.

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