Category: MIAMI

The Three Miamis When I was a kid in high school, living in Miami and going to one of the more affluent public schools, there were three types of kids — the rich ones from Coconut Grove and Key Biscayne, the poor ones also from Coconut Grove, and the somewhat middle-class ones in between. It was the late ’70s, early ’80s — sun, swagger, and a city already running on something stronger than orange juice. I was in that in-between middle class. My parents worked for a living, and I worked at Burger King in the Grove. I had … Continue readingSex, Drugs and Rock and Roll

Don Aronow wasn’t born with salt in his veins — he poured it in himself. He came from Brooklyn, made a pile of money in construction up north, then did what a lot of men with more money than peace of mind do: he came to Florida. Back then, Miami was still pretending to be civilized. But beneath the tans and the cocktails, it was already sweating ambition, cocaine, and danger. Don liked fast things — cars, boats, women, deals — anything that made the world blur around the edges. He built his own kingdom on a stretch of … Continue readingThe Man Who Built Thunder