Times columnist visits Cuba and reports about golf. Golf?
"The Cuban rebel leader, Fidel Castro, has dealt the tourist business in Havana an awful blow," Braven Dyer wrote, adding that the incoming revolt didn't stop the celebrity golfers from having a great time.
According to Dyer, his party was stopped by soldiers as they drove from the Havana Hilton to the golf course. Johnny Weissmuller, an Olympic athlete who became famous again in a second career as Tarzan, "let out his jungle yell and the gendarmes promptly lowered their rifles, smiled and yipped 'Tarzan' as they waved us on."
Other celebrities of the era along for the trip included Buddy Rogers, Hoagy Carmichael and Bob Crosby.
Readers learned that the Havana Hilton had only five floors open because "the rebels have scared people away." Dyer detailed dinner one night: "You never saw such food. The most popular drink with tourists is the frozen Daiquiri, made of rum so light you hardly know you've had it until the roof caves in."
I realize this was a different era, with different standards, but a golfing trip to the Cuba during the revolution? Maybe there's a hard-hitting piece from this trip I haven't found yet. I'll keep looking. This story just read like a travel brochure and should have been spiked.
The rebels took control of Havana on Jan. 1, 1959. Probably plenty of available tee times that day.
Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.
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Little stories catch my eye. I saw the obit for Sharry Rubin and found this follow up on the web. Horrible, horrible way to die.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810766,00.html?promoid=googlep
Posted by: zabadu | November 18, 2008 at 08:38 AM
one of the first things castro et al did was close the golf courses... until there were only two left on the entire island.
where is the world court when you need them?
Posted by: colin | November 18, 2008 at 09:24 AM