(Editor’s Note: This week’s Keys Voices, honoring the late Clarence Clemons, was written by Larry Kahn, editor of the “Florida Keys Keynoter.”)

"Big Man" Clarence Clemons, shown here onstage in the Florida Keys, was an unparalleled musician who loved the island chain. (Photo courtesy of Redbone Celebrity Tournament Series)

Saxophone player extraordinaire Clarence Clemons, 69, for nearly 40 years Bruce Springsteen’s No. 2 man in the E Street Band, was well known in the Keys for playing gigs at various bars, sitting in with whatever bands were playing.

They include the Schooner Wharf in Key West; the Brass Monkey Lounge, Castaway, Dockside Lounge and the Hurricane Grille in Marathon; and Woody’s, the Lorelei and Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada.

Clemons, who died June 18, was also a staple fixture at a group of Florida Keys fishing tournaments that raise money for cystic fibrosis treatment and research.

“He always showed up with his sax and played, even though I never was presumptuous that he would play,” said Gary Ellis, founder of the Redbone Celebrity Tournament Series.

Ellis said that even though it wasn’t widely known, Clemons had an affinity for sportfishing.

“He was totally taken by fishing,” Ellis said. “He was all about Keys fishing … for tarpon and bonefish.”

Shown here releasing a bonefish, Clemons found great enjoyment in fishing Keys waters. (Photo courtesy of Redbone Celebrity Tournament Series)

In the Keys, Clemons’ special place was in Marathon. His Stirrup Key home overlooks Florida Bay.

Clemons’ 2009 autobiography, “Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales,” has a chapter called “Marathon Key.” In it, he writes following back surgery:

Most of my time lately has been spent in Florida healing. It’s a slow process but I’m doing well. I feel strong every day and look forward to dancing across the stage again on the next tour. As I write this, I’m sitting on my porch looking out at the bay toward the horizon where the ocean meets the sky.

The book also has a chapter called “Looking Back from Islamorada.” That recounts his chance meeting with singer Jimmy Buffett, who was signing books at an Islamorada bookstore, likely Hooked on Books.

Clemons went into the bookstore and saw a bunch of Parrot Heads {as Buffett fans are called}.

Clarence plays the Brass Monkey in Marathon in May 2010 at the Save the Monkey party. (Photo by Ryan McCarthy, "Florida Keys Keynoter")

I walked up to the head of the line and waited for Jimmy to notice me. It’s very hard not to notice me. Especially in a tiny Florida bookstore a few feet off the highway.

“You’ll have to get in line with everybody else, sir,” said Jimmy when he finally looked up.

“I don’t think so,” I said.

“I don’t think so either,” said Jimmy, smiling. “Big Man! Look everybody, it’s Clarence Clemons.”

The folks in line smiled. Two big stars for the price of one in a very unlikely setting. Well, one big star and me. They applauded.

(Editor’s Note: Andy Newman contributed to this piece. An earlier version of it appeared in the Wednesday, June 22, edition of the “Florida Keys Keynoter.”)

Topics: Arts, Highlights, Islamorada, Marathon, Profiles, Voices Main Archive

In the late 1960s, Sally and Joe Bauer made a road-trip pit stop that changed their lives forever. Driving back from diving in the Florida Keys, they stopped at a store near the Miami airport called Stone Age Antiques.

Sally Bauer stands beside a diving bell after a dive in Norway in 2005. (Photos courtesy of the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum)

There they found an old diving helmet selling for $500, and bought it because they thought it was attractive. That simple act set them on a path that, years later, led to their founding the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum in Islamorada.

“When we purchased that helmet, we caught the collecting bug,” Sally admitted. “Like any incurable disease, it can’t be treated. You can suppress the strength of it a little bit — in this case by adding to the collection — but you never quite get over it.”

Under the influence of the “disease,” the Bauers eventually assembled the world’s largest collection of diving artifacts, antiques, books and prints related to the history of diving.

Sally wasn’t always interested in the underwater world. She grew up in a rural area near Youngstown, Ohio, and later studied medicine. She first met her husband of 42 years, the late Joe Bauer, when she showed up at his office seeking a summer job while in college.

“I started working for him, and then I worked for and with him all of the rest of his life,” she said. “We did everything together — that was my joy through life and my great tragedy when he died.”

Sally displays a wooden Griswood helmet underwater.

Sally and Joe began diving as a hobby that helped them disconnect from the world and escape the stresses of the medical profession. They kept diving because of their fascination with the marine biology of aquarium fish.

The Bauers took dive trips to the Keys to study the spawning behaviors of fish and bring them back to their Cleveland home for further research. As well as making important scientific discoveries, they also were the first to raise clownfish and peppermint shrimp successfully in captivity.

By the 1980s, their collection of artifacts was so vast that they helped found the Historical Diving Society of the United States and the United Kingdom. Concerned that the collection, and the history it represented, would be scattered and lost after their deaths, they approached the Smithsonian Institute, Disney’s Epcot Center and others — but got little response.

“When we moved to the Keys full-time in 1997, we realized that the Keys are the only place that you can drive and dive on a coral reef,” Sally said. “It just seemed natural that this is where we should have the museum.”

That realization sparked their creation of the world-class Florida Keys History of Diving Museum, located at mile marker 83 — which contains artifacts and other items covering an incredible 4,000 years of diving history.

The museum's highlights include an exhibit dedicated to Upper Keys treasure hunter Art "Silver Bar" McKee.

Highlights include an exhibit of dive helmets from around the world, and one dedicated to legendary Upper Keys treasure hunter Art “Silver Bar” McKee.

“The museum is not just for divers — it’s for anyone who wants to know more about man’s quest to explore under the sea,” explained Sally, who was inducted into the prestigious Women Divers Hall of Fame in March 2011. “Joe used to say, ‘It’s a little jewel that has not quite been discovered,’ and when people come in they’re astonished.”

Joe Bauer died suddenly in April 2007, but his legacy and knowledge of diving history live on through Sally.

“My challenge for the rest of my life is to put this history down so it’s not lost,” Sally said. “There are many more stories we want to tell about diving history.”

Topics: Highlights, History, Islamorada, Profiles, Senior Adventures, Voices Main Archive

Rob O’Neal wasn’t born with a camera in his hand (at least, his mother is reasonably sure he wasn’t). But somewhere along his journey from childhood to adulthood, from his former homes to Key West, the camera became an extension of Rob’s eyes and heart and brain.

Rob O'Neal's eye for a great photo leads him to shoot images like the "southernmost legs" in front of the Southernmost House in the continental United States. (All photos by Rob O'Neal)

He doesn’t regard that as remarkable; it’s simply the way things are. Just as Dylan and Springsteen translate their experiences into chords and lyrics, Rob translates his into photographs. His “Key West Photo Safari” book, a compilation of those experiences, is a quirkily vivid record of the world he inhabits — and a must-have volume for everybody who loves the island city.

Though Rob has shot thousands of photos of Key West and the Keys, until 1996 he was a land-locked guy who worked in the restaurant business in Dayton, Ohio. But serendipity intervened, and he wound up in Key West with a camera and a simple philosophy.

“The battle cry has always been, if it moves, shoot it,” says Rob, ”and if it doesn’t, shoot it again.”

From a helicopter, Rob captured the action of a world-class sailing regatta held each year in Key West waters.

Since his immersion in the world of Keys photography, Rob has found himself in some pretty unusual situations. For example, flying over Key West Harbor in a helicopter at 100 miles per hour to shoot world championship powerboat races. Diving on the shipwreck site of the fabled “Nuestra Señora de Atocha” Spanish galleon that sank off Key West in 1622. Dodging huge, lavish floats full of semi-naked revelers during the elaborate (and wonderfully bizarre) annual Fantasy Fest Parade.

Rob’s camera has captured some of the wackiest events in the Keys. Like the Minimal Regatta, where rules mandate that “vessels” must be constructed of two sheets of flimsy plywood and a roll of duct tape. The annual Parrot Head gathering of some 3,000 Jimmy Buffett fans, who typically wear eccentric headgear that inspired their name. The late lamented Chickenfest, a celebration of Key West’s free-range fowl that included a “Poultry in Motion” parade.

When former President Bill Clinton strolled down Duval Street past Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Rob was there with his camera.

And while some photographers shoot only pretty stuff, or only things they’re assigned and paid to shoot, that’s not the case with Rob O’Neal. For him, chronicling his world on film is as natural — and as necessary — as breathing.

His wonderful “Photo Safari” is a testament to his passion. Not only are the shots intriguing and appealing, but many portray things that only someone with a highly developed “eye” (and an equally well-developed appreciation of the absurd) would recognize and shoot.

For example, there’s a car shaped like a giant red chile pepper rolling down legendary Duval Street. A trio of tiny dogs wearing t-shirts riding in a cushioned bicycle basket. A garbage truck with a supersized pink plush bunny stuck to its grill. A shrimpboat with its outriggers arched like the legs of a giant grasshopper.

And of course Rob’s book showcases the glorious mix of characters that give Key West its character — from drag queen Sushi to weatherbeaten former mayor and saloonkeeper Captain Tony.

So who is Rob O'Neal? Here's a rare portrait of the guy behind the camera.

You’ll even find a shot of former president (and repeat Key West visitor) Bill Clinton, dressed in a bright red polo shirt, standing under the sign that marks Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Café.

“Ask any Key Wester and they’ll tell you that the people are what it’s all about,” says Rob, adding that his book includes “entrepreneurs, doctors, musicians, cab drivers, city commissioners, policemen, firefighters, artists, writers, bartenders, and a healthy dose of full-fledged nut cases.”

Get the book, spend some time wandering through its pages, and you might be able to figure out which are which. Or, of course, you might not. But either way (and this is virtually guaranteed), you’ll have a terrific time trying.

Topics: Arts, Highlights, Key West, Local Color, Profiles, Voices Main Archive

Some people visit Key West just for the fun of it, while others come to enjoy the laid-back lifestyle. Then too, there are the artists and craftspeople who find themselves irresistibly drawn to the island for the inspiration it provides. (Though few people remember this, even former president Dwight Eisenhower began painting during a stay in Key West in the 1950’s.)

Folk artist Mario Sanchez captured the Key West of his boyhood in his painted wood carvings. (Sanchez photos courtesy of the Key West Museum of Art & History and Gallery on Greene)

In fact, it’s hard to walk down the tranquil streets of Key West’s Old Town district without coming upon at least one artist intent on an easel. The colorful Victorian architecture and strong tropical light are pretty well irresistible to painters — and the atmosphere of creativity has encouraged craftsmen from palm-frond weavers to the late Mario Sanchez, who was widely regarded as the 20th century’s most important Cuban-American folk artist.

With wood, simple brushes, and chisels, Sanchez recreated the Key West of his boyhood in three-dimensional painted woodcarvings. His vivid and often humorous images feature subjects ranging from street vendors and cigar makers to dancers, gossiping women and chicken thieves.

Key West's historic courthouse is vividly portrayed in this classic Sanchez piece.

In addition, Sanchez’ work portrays colorful impressions of island landmarks — including Ernest Hemingway’s one-time home, the Key West Lighthouse and the San Carlos Institute.

He began his pieces as sketches on brown paper bags. Slowly, carving and adding the bright primary colors of the tropics, he produced incredible, unforgettable primitive art.

Like Mario Sanchez’ masterworks, much of the other art found in the Keys mirrors the island chain’s characteristic lightheartedness, irreverence, and appreciation for life.

That’s especially true of the pieces created by leading American sculptor Seward Johnson, a part-time Key West resident. Johnson is world-renowned for his trompe l’oeil life-sized cast bronzes of ordinary people engaged in everyday activities.

Seward Johnson's gigantic "American Gothic" figures stood outside the Key West Museum of Art & History until they were replaced by another evocative pair of Johnson giants. (Photo by Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Placed in public settings around the world, they’re so realistic that they unfailingly elicit double-takes and grins.

Johnson arrived in Key West with his wife in the early 1990s. For the past several years, his pieces have been a starring attraction in and around the Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House.

His exhibits have included “Beyond the Frame,” three-dimensional life-sized interpretations of 19th-century paintings — constructed so that visitors actually step into the scenes to become (at least temporarily) part of the artwork.

His “Icons” showcase included “Forever Marilyn,” a life-sized three-dimensional take on the famous photograph of Marilyn Monroe, dressed in white, with a flirtatiously blowing skirt. (That piece, by the way, now stands in front of Key West’s beloved Tropic Cinema on Eaton Street.)

Visitors to Johnson's "Beyond the Frame" exhibit at the Key West Museum of Art & History could actually step into this lifesize sculpture to become part of the artwork. (Photo by Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Johnson’s work overflows the Custom House building and spills out onto the grounds. A gigantic pair of his sculptures stands in front of the museum, beckoning people in to discover more. And his multi-figure piece in the garden behind the Custom House literally stops people in their tracks. (It’s inspired by “The Dance” by Henri Matisse — look that up and you’ll see why it’s so startling!)

Not unexpectedly, given its artistic richness, Key West is home to a variety of galleries. Stroll around historic Old Town district and you’ll find galleries offering Haitian primitives, art glass, folk art, original oils and watercolors, bronzes and other sculptures, offbeat “gyotaku” fish prints, and much more.

For an inspiring “big picture” of the arts scene in Key West and the Florida Keys, just click here.

Topics: Arts, History, Key West, Local Color, Profiles, Voices Main Archive

For a passionate angler on vacation in the Florida Keys, there’s nothing worse than a day when the seas are too rough to go fishing. Some spend their forced inaction inside, prepping their equipment for the next day, while others catch up on their sleep.

Many years ago during a Keys vacation, it was too windy for Charlotte Ambrogio to go fishing, so she went shopping instead -- and bought a house!

Twenty-five years ago, Charlotte Ambrogio spent a dreary non-fishing day shopping for a purchase that changed her life.

“It was too windy to go fishing, so we bought a house,” she said simply.

Today, the one-time vacationer is a permanent resident of Islamorada and director of many of the area’s major annual fishing tournaments.

Charlotte grew up in Long Island and Connecticut, where she loved the beach and surfing. Her grandfather was a dedicated angler who fished from Nova Scotia to the Bahamas, following giant tuna. Some of her favorite childhood memories are of time spent offshore fishing with him.

“I didn’t get to go very often, because in those days they didn’t really think women should go fishing — but when I did go, I loved it,” Charlotte recalled. “My favorite species to target was dolphin. I have wonderful memories of how beautiful the colors of water and the colors of the dolphin were, and I’ve been hooked on fishing ever since.”

About 15 years ago Charlotte, in the words of a song by Keys musician Howard Livingston, “looked in the sky and waved her plane goodbye and became another castaway.”

In 1995, the Connecticut castaway was inspired by the Milford Striped Bass Club, a fishing club she was involved with in Connecticut, to join with Upper Keys sport fishermen to found the Matecumbe Anglers Fishing Club.

Charlotte congratulates winner John Dobson (left) and Captain Drew Kleine after their victory in Islamorada's Backcountry Fly Championship.

Shortly after that, Charlotte realized how much Key Largo’s Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary needed funding — so she organized a fundraising auction and fishing tournament.

During the event, a fellow angler offered her the opportunity to organize a tarpon tournament.

Then, like a fortunate angler surrounded by a school of fish, Charlotte “caught” one tournament after another.

“Becoming a tournament director wasn’t something I planned to do,” she admitted. “Like most things in life, it just happened — one tournament led to another.”

In the past 10 years Charlotte has personally founded three tournaments: the Del Brown Permit Tournament for permit on fly, the Backcountry Fly Championship for redfish and snook on fly and the Women’s Fall Fly Classic for redfish, tarpon, snook and bonefish on fly.

Though she’s worked on many angling challenges, the Don Hawley Tarpon Tournament remains closest to her heart. The first tarpon tournament she directed, it benefits the Don Hawley Foundation — which provides financial assistance to professional fishing guides in need.

Still a passionate angler and happy Keys resident, Charlotte shares a smiling moment with her son Raymond.

From her home base in Islamorada, widely known as the sportfishing capital of the world, Charlotte lures in hundreds of anglers from across the globe to compete in her tournaments each year. She credits her success in part to the richness and variety of fish species in Keys waters.

“You can go within a few minutes of Islamorada and catch bonefish, tarpon, snook and redfish on one side,” she explained, “and then go offshore and catch everything from dolphin to sailfish.”

Charlotte herself has retired from fishing tournaments, and instead sticks to organizing them (she currently oversees 10!). But in her spare time, she still indulges her passion for fishing at sunset off Islamorada.

“I just love seeing fish — almost as much as I love catching them,” she said. “When you’re out looking for fish, then you see them in the distance and you see them coming closer and how beautiful they are in the water … it makes me feel very lucky to have this right at our back door.”

Topics: Islamorada, On the Water, Profiles, Voices Main Archive

Proving the old saying that a song can change lives, Gloria Teague was forever changed by the James Brown tune “I Feel Good.” In fact, it turned the dive master into a bakery owner and the purveyor of “the best bunz in town.”

As well as karaoke, Gloria Teague enjoys conch shell "musicianship."

It all started when Gloria heard pastry chef Robert Spencer Jr. sing his karaoke version of the iconic hit. She was so impressed by his talent that she approached him and said, “That was amazing. I’ve got to know you.”

Just a few years later, the two friends became the masterminds behind the Islamorada Restaurant & Bakery, a local favorite affectionately known as Bob’s Bunz.

Originally from Washington D.C., Gloria moved to central Florida with her family when she was 10 years old. During family vacations camping in the Keys, she fell in love with diving and Keys waters.

Later, eager to move to the island chain, she took a casual comment made by Captain Spencer Slate of Atlantis Dive Center (“Well, when you’re ready to move, let me know”) as a job offer. She arrived in the Keys in 1990 and worked with Captain Slate for several years before opening her own dive shop, Lady Cyana.

Clearly enjoying herself, Gloria takes the wheel during a seafaring excursion.

“The dive business was very difficult,” Gloria admitted. “In fact, the restaurant business is probably the only thing that’s more difficult — and that’s what I’m doing now.”

After Gloria and Robert Spencer met at karaoke, their friendship blossomed while she worked as a dive master and he worked as the chef for the Islamorada Restaurant & Bakery’s then-owner.

When the place went up for sale, Robert approached Gloria about buying it with him. Despite having no restaurant experience, she decided to trade in her scuba tank for cinnamon buns.

“The only thing that qualified me to own a restaurant is that I’ve eaten out every day of my adult life,” she quipped. “But Rob is a great teacher and I learned in dog years.”

Today, the restaurant is known for friendly service, elegant wedding cakes and the gigantic cinnamon and sticky buns Robert creates — giving it the nickname Bob’s Bunz. (FYI, the buns are so large that Gloria is convinced the Overseas Highway weigh station at mile marker 80 was put up because of all the calories consumed at Bob’s Bunz.)

Adorning the walls of the partners’ laidback emporium are many T-shirts and novelties Gloria created — bearing their catchphrase “the best bunz in town” and other sayings like “bite my bunz.”

Gloria and Robert's eatery is casual and welcoming ... and has become a Keys legend for its world-class cinnamon and sticky "bunz."

“My goal is for everyone to leave with something in their hands,” she said, “and not just in their tummies.”

Gloria admits she loves working with people, especially the many brides and grooms whose wedding cakes the bakery designs. They prepare between 300 and 400 wedding cakes per year, and the most popular is their Key lime cake. It’s so delicious, she boasts, that she’s never met anyone who didn’t like it.

She and Bob’s Bunz strive to serve consistent, high-quality food and test their success by making sure everyone walks out of the restaurant “hugging their bellies.”

“We’re not interested in being a bigger better place like chain restaurants — we’re just interested in being the best we can be,” she stressed. “We want to grow, but still be friendly and fun.”

When she’s not working, Gloria Teague spends time riding her bike around the Upper Keys, diving the reefs or exploring her favorite spot, Windley Key, which she calls the area’s best undiscovered tourist attraction.

And every Sunday night, she and Robert Spencer still can be found at karaoke at Key Largo’s Coconuts Restaurant & Lounge — the spot where they first met and a song changed their lives.

Topics: Food, Highlights, Islamorada, Key Largo, Local Color, Profiles, Restaurant Picks, Voices Main Archive

Sean Fisher was 7 years old when his grandfather, Mel Fisher, discovered the legendary shipwreck of the 17th-century Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha in Key West waters.

Sean Fisher, grandson of legendary treasure salvor Mel Fisher, is passionate about recovering historic artifacts and treasures from the ocean floot. (Photo courtesy of Mel Fisher's Treasures)

While others marveled at the Atocha’s priceless historic artifacts and treasures, later to be valued at $450 million, he focused on another “treasure” entirely: the lobsters his Aunt Taffi told him were living on the wrecksite.

Today, Sean is vice president of Mel Fisher’s Treasures, the family’s shipwreck search and salvage enterprise overseen by his father Kim Fisher, headquartered beside the popular Mel Fisher Maritime Museum at 200 Greene St. in Key West.

And though the Atocha find was 25 years ago, Sean still grins at the memory of his reaction when Taffi broke the news.

“She’s telling me about this 40-foot-long, 20-foot-wide, 5-foot-tall pile of silver that they found, and I was more interested in the fact that she said there were lobsters living in the silver bars!” he said. “I couldn’t wait to grab a lobster off of it.”

Admittedly, treasure was nothing new to the young Sean. For 16 years, Mel Fisher and his family — including wife Deo, daughter Taffi and sons Kim, Kane and Dirk — had doggedly sought the Atocha. The vessel sank off the Florida Keys in a 1622 hurricane while carrying gold, silver and other riches from the New World home to Spain.

Sean shares tales of treasure on national television with "Good Morning America's" Sam Champion. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)

The long search took a brutal toll, including the death of Sean’s Uncle Dirk, Dirk’s wife Angel and diver Rick Gage when their salvage boat suddenly capsized. Periodic discoveries of gold, silver and artifacts fueled the team’s determination to continue, but the major part of the shipwreck remained hidden by sand, silt and the marine concretion that grows around objects underwater.

That is, it remained hidden until July 20, 1985 — when Mel’s crew discovered the “main pile” of treasure and artifacts lying in approximately 55 feet of water 35 miles southwest of Key West.

Underwater archaeologists and divers recovered large quantities of gold and silver coins, silver bars, contraband emeralds, religious and secular jewelry, cannons and other weapons, pottery and rare navigational instruments from the Atocha site. The shipwreck also provided incredible information about the Spanish empire and 17th-century shipboard life.

But according to the vessel’s manifest, much still remains undiscovered —including 130,000 silver coins and more than 400 silver bars.

Sean and a feathered friend take a break during a live broadcast of the "Today" show with Al Roker and Matt Lauer. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)

As a Key West teenager, Sean crewed on his family’s search boats. He left the Keys to attend Oregon’s Portland State University, but the drama and promise of shipwreck salvage drew him back in 2005.

“When you find treasure on the bottom of the ocean, it makes your whole body tingle,” he said. “You’re finding a piece of history, something that some poor soul was holding onto in the middle of this hurricane 400 years ago, and nobody has seen since — and you’re the first person to touch it.”

Though Mel Fisher died in 1998, in recent years the team has found plenty of pieces of history including a gold bar, emeralds and hundreds of silver coins. But Sean is just as enthralled by seemingly mundane discoveries such as medical tools, pottery and a chest of nails.

Like his legendary grandfather, who handed down his passion for shipwrecks to Sean, Sean is raising his young children to understand the family legacy. His wife Star works with him at Mel Fisher’s Treasures, and his plans for the company include seeking and finding other shipwrecks worthy of his heritage.

“If there’s anything I learned from my grandfather about the treasure hunting business, it’s that if you don’t believe you’re going to find treasure, you’ve got no business being on the water,” Sean said. “If you ask any one of us Fishers what we’re in it for, it’s all about the hunt.”

Topics: Highlights, History, Key West, Local Color, Profiles, Voices Main Archive

He stands only three feet tall, but Robert the Doll looms large as a Key West celebrity. He’s internationally acclaimed for his mischievous deeds, receives letters and e-mails from all over the United States and has more than a thousand Facebook friends.

Eerie icon Robert the Doll is interviewed by Jorge Estevez for South Florida’s CBS News 4. Claudia Pennington (right) interprets Robert's wishes. (Photo courtesy of the Key West Art & Historical Society)

Despite being a bit older than the average celeb, Robert has made television appearances on the Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, numerous regional stations and more.

Some might scoff at such attention being paid to a straw-stuffed doll — but Robert, who has been dubbed a “paranormal pop star,” is no ordinary doll.

Robert’s career began in 1904 when he was given to a Key West boy named Robert “Gene” Otto — some say by a voodoo-practicing nanny or family maid.

Young Gene gave the doll his own first name and, throughout his childhood, blamed Robert for naughty deeds and bad behavior. Even when Gene grew up and married, the doll remained his alter ego.

Robert appears suitably spooky during the CBS News filming. Could that shadowy black-clad woman be his paranormal publicist? (Photo courtesy of the Key West Art & Historical Society)

While Gene gained renown as an artist, Robert (living in his own room in the Otto family home, despite strenuous objections from Gene’s wife Anne) gained renown of a far more unsettling sort. Children passing by glimpsed him leering from the windows of the home’s turret room and, according to local lore, a workman heard the doll giggling at him.

In 1974, Gene Otto died. Anne sold the house and quickly departed, leaving Robert behind for the new owners to find. Eventually, the disturbing doll was donated to the Key West Art & Historical Society.

Today, Robert’s “home” is a handsome glass case at Fort East Martello Museum, a massive brick Civil War–era fort reborn as a popular Key West historic attraction. The Art & Historical Society’s executive director, Claudia Pennington, acts as his guardian (and unofficial paranormal publicist).

A doll of few words, Robert is a master of nonverbal communication. He particularly delights in creating “special effects” on museum visitors’ photographs. They often appear inexplicably ruined unless he’s asked beforehand if he minds having his photo snapped.

In 2000, when Claudia “met” Robert, he was part of a “Key West Oddities” exhibition in a poorly lit glass case. Subsequently, she realized he was not just another artifact.

Robert greets his many fans from a handsome glass case at Fort East Martello. (Photo by Kathy Koontz)

“As the years passed, I became aware of how many people, after visiting Robert in the museum, wrote to him about their problems with photographs,” said Claudia. “We decided that these unsolicited letters were part of Robert’s story, and in 2004 we moved Robert into his own gallery with a large space dedicated to cards and letters from his fans.”

Since then, Robert has become an eerie icon. During one month recently, his website got nearly 90,000 hits. He’s also been a “guest star” at a convention of the Atlantic Paranormal Society in Clearwater, Fla. (Like other celebrities, he was under constant surveillance by a high-level security team throughout his road trip.)

Despite his fame, Robert remains basically unchanged. Just as he did when he and Gene Otto were inseparable, he seems to enjoy playing tricks.

In fact, he even surprised radio host and paranormal expert Joshua Warren when Joshua investigated him at Fort East Martello. Two rolls of Joshua’s special 3D film mysteriously failed to record Robert’s image, even though he’d never experienced such problems before.

“I do not think of Robert as a ’possessed‘ or wicked doll — he is a mischievous spirit who seems to love pulling a few pranks,” said Claudia. “We love our Robert and are pleased that he continues to bewitch new audiences.”

Topics: Highlights, History, Key West, Local Color, Profiles, Quirks, Voices Main Archive

The average family might spend an afternoon flying a Charlie Brown–style kite, but Islamorada’s Walsh family is anything but average. Their family “kiting” afternoons are filled with extreme jumps, twists, flips and other acrobatics on the open waters of the Florida Keys.

Mike Walsh, co-founder of Islamorada's popular Otherside Boardsports, paddles out with son Cody hitching a ride.

Mike and Shana Walsh, owners of Otherside Boardsports in Islamorada, bring new meaning to the expression “mom and pop shop.” Affectionately called the Otherside, their shop is a place where people can experience the more extreme side of Florida Keys waters through kiteboarding, wakeboarding, wakeskating and standup paddleboarding.

“Working at the Otherside is more of a labor of love than a job,” said Mike Walsh. “I actually care more about whether you have a good time than getting paid for it.”

The family affair blossomed out of Mike and Shana’s childhood years in New Jersey and their love of the water and action-packed adventure. Shana grew up living the “island lifestyle,” surfing, kiteboarding and wakeboarding almost daily in Long Beach Island, N.J.

Mike and Shana, shown here with Cody, turned their passion for boarding into a fun-filled business.

“I unfortunately didn’t grow up on an island, but I’ve been trying to get there ever since,” said Mike. “I’ve always been into swimming, water sports and more extreme sports.”

Their kite adventure, friendship and romance began when Shana, 17 at the time, met 20-year-old Mike while working at Island Surf & Sail shop in her hometown. But unlike their kiteboarding escapades, the couple’s love story was no whirlwind experience.

“When we first met, Mike was just a goofball that made me laugh,” admitted Shana, who said eventually the friendship she felt for him turned into love. “If you ask Mike, though, he’ll tell a very different story — he says he knew he was going to marry me since the first time he saw me.”

After several vacations in the Keys, Mike and Shana moved to Islamorada in 2006 and opened their shop in October 2007.

Despite his young age, Cody has been known to share kiteboarding tips with customers.

When it came to selecting a name for the enterprise, they chose Otherside Boardsports because it literally was written on the wall.

“We used our son’s bathtub crayons to write possible shop names on the bathroom wall,” said Mike. “The bad ones would get washed off and the good ones would stay longer, and Otherside was there the longest.”

After its opening, the Otherside quickly grew from a small kiteboard and water sports shop to a “second home” for adventure- and thrill-seekers. In the true spirit of a mom and pop shop, Mike and Shana share daily store duties, assisted by a few staff members. Their young son, Cody, is the shop’s full-time mascot — and he’s even been known to show customers a thing or two on the boards.

In addition to coaching seasoned boarding aficionados, Mike and Shana enjoy instructing first-timers. About 25 percent of the kiteboarding students they teach every year have never attempted any kind of water sports before.

“There are people out there that we’ve taught that are now competing on a pro level,” said Mike. “They’ve fully embraced the lifestyle of the sport and we introduced them to it, and that’s huge for us.”

Mike and Shana share their love of kiteboarding adventures with each other and with Otherside Boardsports' clients.

Mike and Shana see the Keys’ warm, flat, shallow waters as an ideal year-round training ground for their favorite sports. Kiteboarding season runs from late October to early June during the best wind conditions, while standup paddleboarding and wakeboarding flourish during the summer months when flatter waters prevail.

“The sports we participate in are not only sports,” said Shana. “For a lot of people it’s a true passion.”

For the energetic couple, kiteboarding and their shop are their passion and their life. In fact, on long summer days, they often close the shop a bit early — to go boarding themselves.

Topics: Environment, Highlights, Islamorada, On the Water, Profiles, Voices Main Archive

Diana Nyad is one tough lady. And she’d better be, because swimming 103 miles from Cuba to Key West is one tough task — a task not many 61-year-olds would attempt.

At 61 years old, Diana Nyad is poised to attempt a 103-mile swim from Cuba to Key West. (Photos by Haig Jacobs, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Diana hopes to begin her marathon swim any day now, but it won’t be the first time she’s challenged herself to attempt the feat. In 1978, when she was 32 years younger and a seasoned athlete, she didn’t make it.

Instead, battered and weak, she was hauled into a support boat by friends after spending more than 41 hours battling strong currents and punishing waves.

This time, she believes, will be different. And while having turned 60 might seem to be a disadvantage, for Diana Nyad it was just the inspiration she needed.

“Honestly, I have not been sitting around for all these 32 years thinking ‘my life is miserable without making it from Cuba to Florida’,” Diana said recently during a break in her final training in Key West. (Click here to view a You Tube video interview segment with Diana.)

Tough and savvy, Diana is motivated by the desire to shatter negative stereotypes about older people.

In fact, she’s a popular radio and television personality and author who lives in L.A. and looks far younger than her chronological age. Yet after celebrating her 60th birthday last year, she decided somebody needed to shatter the modern-day perception that older people are “past it.”

“I’m strong, I’m vital, I still feel relevant to my community, but you’re not made to feel that way at 60 in this society,” Diana said. “I want 60-year-olds to look at me and say, ‘You know that silly bumper sticker ‘60 is the new 40’? She’s proving it’.”

So she began training for the 103-mile swim — which, coincidentally, is estimated to take about 60 hours (yes, that’s an almost unbelievable two-and-a-half days).

As well as being physically and mentally challenging, the feat also involved logistical challenges that rivaled those of an Everest expedition. They included getting government permissions from both the U.S. and Cuba, and assembling a support team (it eventually grew to 37 people).

Diana's nonstop marathon swim is expected to take an incredible 60 hours.

Unlike her 1978 attempt, Diana won’t be swimming in a protective shark cage. This time, she’ll be accompanied by professional kayakers with electronic shark repelling devices — just in case.

In mid-July, with the details falling into place, Diana successfully completed a 24-hour swim in the Gulf Stream off Key West. And recently, she’s been staying in the island city, where the community has embraced her as she waits for the right weather conditions to begin the marathon.

“The people in town have been so generous to me,” Diana marveled. “The Southernmost Hotel has given me a free hotel room for as long as I’m here, the Key West Yacht Club is giving us a free boat slip for our boats … these generous donations from the good people here in the Keys have helped me enormously and I will be forever grateful.”

A seasoned athlete with tremendous physical and mental reserves, Diana believes she has a better chance for success now than she did during her first attempt 32 years ago.

She hopes to end the swim in Key West. But if currents sweep her closer to some other part of the Keys, that’s just fine too.

She’s got plenty of mental techniques to help pass the hours at sea, like counting her strokes in every language she knows and following the beat of metronomic songs. But ultimately, it will come down to her personal resilience and staying power … qualities Diana believes have only increased with age.

“I definitely am a little slower than I used to be but I think I have a better chance mentally, and in spirit and will, than I did before,” Diana said. “And after all, that’s what it’s all about out there — the will.”

May this tough, inspiring lady stay safe, stay focused, and emerge triumphant on the welcoming shores of the Keys.

Topics: Events, Highlights, Key West, On the Water, Profiles, Voices Main Archive