This article was written by Deborah Straw
In the mid-19th century in Key West, the cigar industry transformed the island into the thirteenth largest port in the country. To get an education and to relax while they worked, the cigarmakers hired lectores, or readers, to keep them up on the news and the classics. These lectores read in both English and Spanish. In the morning, one might read Cuban newspapers; in the afternoon, after rolling cigars for hours, the workers might hear Shakespeare or Alexander Dumas, or Blasco Ibanez or Eduardo Zamacois.
More than 100 years later, Key West still honors reading and writing. In fact, it's not hard to plan an entire trip to this island paradise around these two avocations. Even though it is hot and humid in the summer months, Key West is cooler than other parts of Florida and far less crowded than it is during peak (winter) season.
To immerse yourself in the islands glorious literary history, take a tour of Ernest Hemingway's home at 907 Whitehead Street, or sign up for a weekend Writers' Walk (held in the winter months). Although you can't enter them, you'll pass the homes of Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, and John Hersey. At the East Martello Museum & Gallery on South Roosevelt Boulevard are exhibited many historical writers photographs and early editions of their works. Even John James Audubon wrote in a journal while sketching birds in this tropical paradise.
If catching up on your reading is what you need to do, the island offers several good bookstores. My favorites are Key West Island Bookstore at 513 Fleming Street, which specializes in local authors and has a large selection of new and used titles (it often holds readings and signings, too); Blue Heron Books at 1018 Truman Avenue, which is cozy and relaxing; and the best Waldenbooks I've ever entered, on North Roosevelt Boulevard on the outskirts of town. L. Valladares & Son (1200 Duval St.) is the oldest newsstand in Key West, and the best. It offers a huge choice of national and regional newspapers, magazines, literary journals and paperbacks, also great new and old postcards. Hemingway had a line of credit there.
I never bring too many books, as I know I'll buy several. This never fails. At the end of every visit, I ship home a box of books. Monthly library sales during the winter at the oldest public library in The Keys, on Fleming Street, readings at the library and book signings at the shops are all places to mingle with other readers and writers and possibly buy more books. At garage sales, held year-round on the weekends, you can often turn up some fine literature, Florida literary journals or light mysteries.
If writing is what you need to do here, the city holds a Literary Seminar every January, based around genres such as: autobiography, journalism, or children's literature. Last January's seminar pulled out all the stops. Titled The American Novel, it featured Joseph Heller, Joyce Carol Oates, Jamaica Kincaid and more literary luminaries. A series of one-week Writers Workshops with nationally-known writers such as Robert Stone or Joy Williams began a few years ago, co-sponsored by the Literary Seminar and the Heritage House Museum, with its Robert Frost Cottage. In the 1930s, while escaping Vermont or New Hampshire's long winters, he wrote here, too.
That doesn't surprise me. The island looks amazingly like New England in some areas, because of an abundance of wood frame architecture, with gingerbread trim, white picket fences and widows' walks. But, too, the island abounds with good places to write. Inspiration hangs in the air. The place is lush and beautiful; the people are culturally diverse and friendly: it all makes for great material. You can easily gain perspective here on the country and probably on the state of your life. You're on the edge of the earth; you're surrounded by mysterious, deep water.
A walk almost anywhere on this flat island often gets me in the mood to write. A guesthouse porch with comfortable chairs and a lap cat keeps me content and working with only a pen and paper for hours. The street roosters, the wild parrots, the homeless cats and the tree skinks all add dimension, color and mystery to my work.
The ghosts of Key West's historic writers prowl the streets and are joined by many living notables. Among the famous who live here at least part time are Alison Lurie, Joy Williams, Richard Wilbur, and Annie Dillard. James Merrill, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who died last year in Arizona, made Key West his home for several years. Even though this can be intimidating company, it needn't be. You seldom see these people, for one thing, and if you do, it's in a friendly atmosphere, a cafe or a book sale. Writers here encourage other writers, often living in compounds and socializing after a long day of working silently at the computer or on yellow legal pads. But no one is obtrusive; writing is what must get done, not talking about it.
If you're not a poet or a novelist, but, rather, a journalist, you can keep up on most of the news here. The island is home to at least five newspapers, most weekly, except for the six-day-a-week Key West Citizen. Other area papers include Key West, The Newspaper; Solares Hill; The Keynoter, and Island Navigator. Southern Exposure and Celebrate are interesting local gay periodicals. In the Citizen, especially readable are the crime reports (often bizarre and quite benign), the classifieds and many articles about nature, pets and AIDS fund-raisers. For news from further afield, pick up the Miami Herald.
If you're a writer or avid reader, I'd be willing to bet you can't visit Key West without writing something. On a trip last spring, my husband wrote more than he has anywhere else in the last l0 years, and, perhaps, so did I. If you have writer's block, try this magical setting. But don't tell all your friends. The town is already overrun with enormous talent, and it's not getting any cheaper to stay there. But, that's always the trouble with beautiful coastal cities with near-perfect climates.
Bookstores and Museums:
Blue Heron Books, 1018 Truman Avenue
Key West Island Bookstore, 513 Fleming Street
Waldenbooks, 2212 North Roosevelt Boulevard
L. Valladares & Son, 1200 Duval Street
Heritage House Museum & Robert Frost Cabin, 410
Caroline Street
East Martello Museum, 3501 S. Roosevelt Boulevard
Ernest Hemingway Museum, 907 Whitehead Street
Audubon House & Tropical Gardens , 205 Whitehead Street
Writers' Walk, Saturday and Sunday morning. 1-888-293-9291
Skink - Any of numerous smooth, shiny lizards of the family Scincidae, having a cylindrical body and short or rudimentary legs.
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