Blue skies forever
Originally published April 25, 2007
Updated Nov. 3, 2008
Capt. Tony Tarracino died Nov. 1 after being hospitalized about a week with a heart and lung condition, according his wife Mary. "He loved Key West and everyone here," she told the AP. "I've heard him called the conscience of Key West." Tony was 92.
Tony was one of my first portals into Key West during my visits in the 1980s. My pal Jimmy Buffett sang about Tony's exploits in "Last Mango in Paris," from the 1985 album of the same name. Here's an edited blog from the last time I saw Tony. He was hanging around the bar even though he had sold it in 1989. I'm glad I wrote it down:
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.........
Dave Hoekstra has been a 
