About Al, Miami and Me

I enjoyed writing this story-much more than the last.   "Miami 1986" was too close for comfort, emotionally anyway, for me to enjoy writing. In fact it was so painful I've decided to forgo the novella based on it for a while and write at least one more Al story.

The character Al is based on an 86 year old retired papercup salesman who lived next door to me in Miami. He did indeed make his fortune thanks to a trench mouth epidemic in NYC the 1930s. It was the first thing he told me when we met.  It was also one of the only things, so I filled in the blanks with one of my heros; my Dad, who passed away five years ago.  Of course it goes without saying who Adele is based on. She passed way last year.

Did I ever work for a bed company such as the one described?  No. But almost!   I did sit in on a meeting like the one described before an interview with a bed company and I did freak out.  Funny thing is... as I sat there I knew someday I would write about it.   Twenty plus years later, I wrote the sales manager's speech for the amusement of my mother and two sisters.  I called it "Marquee Lovely, Marquee Beautiful."  That was my nod to David Mamet's fabulous play, and Alex Baldwin's speech in "Glengarry, Glenross".