Miami Beach: blueprint of an Eden : lives seen through the prism of family and place

Abstract

"Miami Beach, Blueprint of an Eden is the story of an extraordinary time and place. It is the concurrent stories of two families placed by destiny in a position to tell them well: the Wolfsons and the Okas. The authors' fathers were each mayors of Miami Beach, one in the 40s and one in the 50s and early 60s. Their mothers were prominent first ladies. Their exhaustive family archives provide a rich cultural, architectural, political, social, botanical, stylistic, gastronomic, geological and poetic history of an extraordinary place at an extraordinary time. The soul of the book is a dialogue between the authors via letters and narrative text. The heart of the book is its sumptuous photographs, architectural blueprints, memorabilia, sheet music (that can be played on a piano), native poetry, maps, drawings, and recipes--everything that gave rise to the contemporary phenomena that is Miami Beach. With an introduction by contemporary architectural historian and writer, Alastair Gordon (Weekend Utopia: Modern Living in the Hamptons: Naked Airport), no other book on Miami Beach brings together Mickey Mouse, Eleanor Roosevelt, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the composer Manna Zucca, the horticulturalist Tashiro family, opera singer Renata Tebaldi, the singing cowboy Gene Autry, master photographer Arnold Newman, Joan Fields and her Stradivarius, Oscar winner Geraldine Page, producer Robert Evans, architect Morris Lapidus, Jacqueline Kennedy, Anita Eckberg, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, Leonard Bernstein, Washington politicos, haute couture outdoor runways, and pre-Vegas nightlife... in a memoir that is so visual, conversational, poetic and filled with family history that its local intensity illuminates a national character."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Introduction / by Alastair Gordon -- Preface -- Eden in view: site and materials -- Family tendrils: people take root -- Dreams and designs: architecture in Eden -- Shadows of war -- Gilding the fig leaf: style on the beach -- Overtures to culture -- The Showmandisers: building an empire -- Caribbean Eden: tropical movie palace -- The stars at night: Hollywood on Miami's stage set -- World's playground: keys to the city -- Palm and eagle: local and national characters -- Contributors.