The next opportunity that caught my attention was a stage
that was being set up and at that time they were performing a sound check also
known as a microphone check microphone checka; just ad libbing a bit. This area,
at the corner of North East 2nd Avenue and North East 3rd Street,
was dubbed The Porch and was billed as "the most chill space" at
the fair! It featured local performances by improvisers', comedians', cabaret
dancers', live musicians', and film and art impresarios' all week long. One of
the quirkiest performances was by The Rock Bottom Remainders; a rock
band consisting of classic authors who have collectively published more than 150
titles, and have sold more than 350 million books that have been
translated into more than 25 languages. This year's band included fair
authors Dave Barry, Sam Barry, Carl Hiaasen, Greg Iles,
Josh Kelly, Erasmo Paolo, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow,
Gene Weingarten, and Alan Zweibel.
There were quite a few vendors on hand as well to take
advantage of the huge crowd that this event draws each November. I was
there on media business and was not able to indulge but for the more than 10,000
that visit on the weekend there were a plethora of options from food to
insurance and other businesses looking to capitalize on this annual
opportunity. We may set up a tent for Trend
Magazine Onlinetm or perhaps Queen
City Tourssm to promote the QCT
Miami Daily City Toursm and QCT
Miami Daily Black Heritage Toursm to gain additional exposure
in the South Florida market of visitors' and newcomers' to the area.
These tours provide a great sampling of area history as well as current and
future plans for Miami and the surrounding areas to include Broward
and Palm Beach Counties as well as Key West. Potential customers
are now able to tour for free by clicking on the aforementioned links.
I stopped at this next tent display
simply because of the woman with the infectious and genuine smile coupled with
her smoked grey sleeveless shirt that read "Don't Mind Being Black" which
turns out is an American Poetry Book that "Gives you a peek into a
community that is oftentimes misunderstood, over generalized, and easily
dismissed" according to Google Books. In
addition, this "Collection of poetry offers a glimpse of the day in the life
of a sculptor, painter, and poet Jake Webster; and poet, performer, writer,
publisher Zorina Exie Frey" who also owns I.W.A. Publications which
specializes in creating S.E.O. content and consulting aspiring writers
and experts to publish a book. She is a graduate of Indiana University
who earned a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and Web
Design certificate, as well as a certificate in Literary Publishing
from Emerson College in Boston, MA. Zorina is also
a member of the South Florida Writers Association of Miami, FL,
who sponsored the tent. I had to wait a few moments to get her to pose for this
pic as she was very busy communicating with various fair attendees.
Next up was author C.L. Brown whose striking resemblance to the late
great singer, actor, musician, composer, and arranger Isaac Hayes (1942 - 2008)
drew me to his tent display. He has written several books to include "Loud
Whispers of Silent Souls," which is a gathering of poems in which "You
will find a collection of hidden treasures, quotes that will inspire and uplift
your soul. You will smile. You will cry. You will love. You will inspire. You
will relate." We had an interesting conversation about how much more
important the written word is over oral words in terms of longevity and
accuracy. And that once something is written it is permanent and will outlive
the author for generations to come. Even if people today do not understand what
we write we must write for future generations to learn and perhaps receive
inspiration. Keep writing Mr. Brown!
My next interaction was different
in that I did not find them, they found me by way of a very outgoing young lady
who was not afraid to approach a complete stranger on the street and introduce
herself. Turns out she was not a writer or publisher but was working for a
worldwide organization known as Friends of Heifer which I later found
out is an official 501(c) (3) non-profit organization based in Little
Rock, AR. They work in 21 countries by supporting farmers and
their communities by teaching them to utilize their land to produce
life-sustaining commodities for themselves and others for a fee in somewhat the
same fashion that Native Americans taught the Europeans to
survive off the land here in what today is known as the United States.
It turns out that the very outgoing young lady was a bit camera shy and chose
to leave the picture-taking to her associate.
The "Read Jamaica" sign at
this next tent is what grabbed my attention because of my Caribbean
roots in the Bahamas. My late grandfather was from Exuma and I am
always interested in what's going on in that part of the world. I did not get a
chance to interact with the folks working the display because they were busy
with fair attendees so I took the liberty to look them up on the Internet
and in the process came across a Read Caribbean Panels 2019 public event
that took place on Saturday November 23, and Sunday November 24,
in room 8301 on the Wolfson Campus of Miami Dade College
in Downtown. The two day event covered Caribbean Myth, Mythology,
and Science Fiction; Caribbean Writers: Race, gender, and Representation;
Caribbean Journey's Through Time and Space; Haitian Drama in it's
Death Throes; Is Haiti a Nation State?; and Caribbean Voices:
Rising Tides.
My last stop on this very insightful
journey was prompted by a sign with a very familiar but confusing name that
most folks mispronounce at first sight. They will typically pronounce
Jai-Alai
as
"Ji-a-lia" as opposed to the correct pronunciation of
"Hi-Li"
which is a sport that originated in the
Pyrenees Mountains over
Basque
Spain over four centuries ago. It started as a handball game that was
played on
Sundays and holidays in small villages at the local church
hence the name translates to
"Merry Festival." Today it is a fast-paced
and dangerous game played on a court behind a sturdy fence with a rock hard
ball and a croquette looking racket that is used to hurl the ball at break neck
speed onto a concrete wall. It is a very popular betting sport in
South
Florida. I am not sure as to just how they were able to use the name but
suffice it to say that their tag line is
"We Bet on Books."
Click here to plan a group visit next year!
