April 2007 Archives

11:48 p.m. April 25

Capt. Tony Tarracino is 90 years old.
A couple nights a week he still holds court behind a large tip jar at Captain Tony's Saloon, the original Sloppy Joe's at 428 Greene St. [During Ernest Hemingway's 1930s Key West years, this was the building he adjourned to after a day of writing.]
The tip jar is always full because Capt. Tony's stories are priceless.
Capt. Tony hitchiked to Key West in 1947 with $12 and a penchant for 7 come 11. A fierce gambler, Capt. Tony was running from the New Jersey mob. When I started visiting Key West regularly in the early 1980s, Capt. Tony gave me gambling tips at the old greyhound race track on Stock Island.
He was a shrimper and captain of a charter boat called "Greyhound." He was a caretaker for Tennesee Williams' monkeys. Capt. Tony participated in the Haitian invasion in the mid-1960s and the Bay of Pigs rescue. Stuart Whitman portrayed Capt. Tony in the 1980 movie "The Cuba Crossing." He ran for Key West mayor five times--one of his failed campaigns was managed by Jimmy Buffett. Capt. Tony finally was elected mayor in 1989. He has called his two-year term "the greatest two years of my life."
About a week ago I was on a freelance assignment in Key West, Fla.
I needed to find Capt. Tony, who is arguably the city's most beloved resident.........