Local Author Luncheon Nick Spill @MBJCC September 21

See Nick Spill at Local Authors Luncheon September 21, Wednesday at 12 NOON.
Miami Beach JCC - 4221 Pine Tree Drive, Miami Beach
Register at stella@mbjcc.org  $15  -includes lunch.

Packing out Books & Books on a Monday night with The Jaded Kiwi

Books & Books reading of The Jaded Kiwi in Coral Gables

Thank you everyone for turning up and listening to the reading of The Jaded Kiwi. And for buying all the books!
Remember to support your local bookstore - in this case Books & Books - the leading independent  bookstore in South Florida - Coral Gables - Miami Airport, Miami Beach and Bal Harbor plus other locations.

Without local independent bookstores we would have not have such a diversity of books and book readings!

36 years ago - Simon Buis murder still unsolved

Simon Buis took a series of stunning photos of Louise Gibbs and I back in the 1970s in a back yard in Grey Lynn in Auckland. He was a brilliant photographer who came to a tragic end when he was murdered next to my old Rugby club in Mt Eden on the night of 04/04/1980. I was in Wellington at the time and arrived in Auckland the next day to hear of this.

Argentinian Death Squad Recipe

Argentinian Death Squad recipe

Slice avocado, dice it with sharp knife, sprinkle, no, pour in brown sugar and add as much whiskey as you can - let stand for say 10 seconds then eat. There is always the other half. Recipe given to me by grand daughter of Argentina's Chess grandmaster - she found out much later he taught the Death Squad chess so they gave his grand daughter a pass. All her University class mates disappeared. Tragic story with more twists with State Department unclassifying new documents here: http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB73/
Also had an artist friend from Argentina who foretold his own death in a mail art piece he sent me and I exhibited in NZ. Could never get any answers from their Govt at the time.
Took me over 30 years before I could try this recipe. Bitter and sweet.

Boots - 02/2011 to 03/26/2016

Boots was born February 2011 and we rescued her and her three siblings, who were adopted by locals.

We found out Boots was a girl not a boy, otherwise we would have called her Nancy as in "These boots are made for walking."

She caught and ate snakes, lizards, squirrels and large rats. She also loved the cheapest dry cat food which she could throw up in large quantities.

Boots tried her hand at being a political pundit with ambiguous results. I do not know why she was sitting on Trump's face. But she was vocal about this.

She loved boxes and was a great promoter in her own way of my new novel The Jaded Kiwi.

Boots was killed in a hit and run on 43rd St and Post Ave, Miami Beach the night of March 26th, 2016.

Bob Adelman on Men In Blazers show silent homage

Bob Adelman

10/30/1930 - 3/19/2016

Who placed a photo of Bob Adelman on NBCSN's Men in Blazers show?

Bob was my next door neighbor since he moved to Miami Beach from New York. He wrote the most thoughtful inscriptions on his books that he gave to Joy and me. He idolized Joy. He was always considerate and talkative. Getting out of my car after work he would be on his bicycle and stop and engage me in a wide ranging conversation that would never end. I miss these conversations.

We took our grand kids to the opening of "The Movement" exhibition at the NSU Art Museum in Ft Lauderdale and they were blown away by his photos. They had been studying the Civil Rights Movement at school and were thrilled when Bob took time to talk to them. They poured over every one of his photos.

He encouraged me to keep writing - in fact he insisted I start writing my first book The Way of the Bodyguard and was thrilled when it came out.

I had been playing phone tag with him the last two weeks as I wanted to give him a copy of my new novel The Jaded Kiwi. Our book shelves are full of the books he published.

We held vigil for him last Saturday when we found out he had died in his house, across the street.

So there is one mystery unsolved. Who placed a photo of him at the back of the Men in Blazers set that was shown on NBCSN last Monday?

For those who do not follow English soccer, Men in Blazers in the funniest most erudite and entertaining sports commentary show on TV.

When I recently asked Bob about this photo he said he walked backwards all the way to Selma.

Bob, we miss you and pay homage to you, your determination, guts and great eye for some of the most compelling images ever captured.

The Jaded Kiwi - one sick twisted crime story

The Jaded Kiwi is now available on Amazon. A twisted crime tale set in New Zealand in 1976 at the start of the War on Drugs and two couples who try to make sense of events that are out of control.