A lot of us around here haven’t been around here all that long. In fact, a lot of us still haven’t bothered to read the minutes of previous meetings and don’t know as much as we should about this intriguing place we choose to call home.
Suggestion: Pick up Paul Guzzo’s book, The Dark Side Of Sunshine.
It’s not a paean to the past; more like an ironic shout-out to the uniquely devious and dynamic history of Tampa and its immediate surroundings. Here’s a city that has hosted a GOP Convention, Super Bowls, Fidel Castro fund-raisers, Mafioso hits, Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, Civil War partisans, Seminole Indians, “gentlemanly” Spaniards and Tocobaga natives. Dark Side is a quick, easy read that chronicles an American microcosm while illuminating the shadowy sides of transitioning Tampa through the years.
Would that it were a bit less quick (154 pages) however. It’s largely a compilation of pieces that previously ran in Cigar City Magazine. Not all are equally relevant. More emphasis for example, on Mafia Don Santo Trafficante and less on Public Access buffoon Charles Perkins would have helped.
Dark Side, however, does provide us with a graphic glimpse back into Tampa’s eclectic, often seedy roots. From immigrant cigar rollers and bolita hustlers to native bootleggers; from ruthless mobsters to sleazy strip-club entrepreneurs; from First Amendment opportunists to social-conservative panderers. Plus an ongoing Cuban dichotomy. And while Tampa’s politics are no longer criminal, neither are they above reproach today.
Dark Side puts today’s Tampa into context. It was about time.