Jesse Monteagudo: This review was originally published in Gay Today (Vol. VII Issue 162). It is reprinted with permission from www.gaytoday.com online. Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer who lives in South Florida with his life partner. He has had the pleasure of visiting Key West many times. His e-mail address is jessemonteagudo@aol.com online.
Dangling from the tip of the Florida peninsula, Key West has long been known for its live-and-let-live attitude and acceptance of alternative lifestyles. A lawyer who moved down to Cayo Hueso in 1828 wrote that “the greater part of the persons who call themselves householders are drunken and vagabond sailors who build themselves palmetto huts on the keys and are usually drunk from the time of their arrival to their departure, or all their money is gone.”
Over a century later Charles Kurault called Key West “the greatest of all the end-of-the-road towns . . . full of dreamers, drifters and dropouts, spongers and idlers and barflies, writers and fishermen, islanders from the Caribbean and gays from the big cities, painters and pensioners, treasure hunters, real estate speculators, smugglers, runaways, old Conchs and young lovers. The residents are all elaborately tolerant of one another, and that is where the style comes in.” The Conch Republic was years ahead of the rest of the Florida when it elected an openly-gay mayor (Richard Heyman) and enacted progressive laws dealing with sexual orientation, people with AIDS, domestic partners and transgendered people.
Because of its warm climate (among other things), Key West attracts many snowbirds, which Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines as “one who travels to warm climes for the winter.” Others disagree. “I am a part-time resident of Key West,” insists Robert Michael Jacobs. “I dislike the title ‘Snowbird'. I prefer to see myself as a winter-weather refugee. I spend winter pursuing some personal goals in this tropical climate. In Boston, I am a writer, public speaker and an ESL tutor.”
In 1995 Jacobs lost his eyesight due to CMV Retinitis, which changed his lifestyle but did not destroy his wit or his sense of humor. In Songs of the Blind Snowbird, Jacobs relates his experiences in Key West and Boston, through good times and bad, along with his friends and loved ones.
In February of 2001, Robert Jacobs began to write a weekly column, The Blind Snowbird, which appeared in Key West's GLBT paper Celebrate! In Songs of the Blind Snowbird, Jacob took his Celebrate! columns and surrounded them with the “backstory”: material that details his thoughts and experiences before, during and after the events chronicled in The Blind Snowbird. Though much of the book deals with Jacobs's life in Boston during the summer, it is his life in Key West that interests us the most. Though many books have been written about Key West, Songs of the Blind Snowbird is the first one written from the perspective of a blind man, living in a sighted society:
“I encounter many types of people that have little or no experience with meeting a blind person. It has become a fascinating study to observe the types of reactions I receive when mingling with the masses. The ‘well-intentioned' may be no better skilled in their approach to me than are others, but I cherish their desire to assist one with impaired navigational tools. I recognize that, as a blind person, it is my duty to instruct the sighted on how to guide me best. Though impractical for me, in a momentary encounter, to give lessons in geography, street layouts, or orientation and mobility techniques, I do try to explain pleasantly that the use of certain words or gestures are meaningless to me. Examples: ‘Over there,' ‘that way' or the pointing of fingers to indicate direction. I suppose that before blindness, I would have been equally challenged. . . .”
On the other hand, “I do not want to come across as whiny or arrogant,” Jacobs tell us. “I only present this perspective because I live this existence. . . . [So] If you see me out there on Duval Street, please do not hesitate to say hello or ask me if I need guidance. I will be happy to help you to help me.”
Jacobs's blindness is not his book's only topic, of course. Much of Songs of the Blind Snowbird deals with KC, Jacobs's beloved companion and best friend. Eventually this ten-pound bundle of joy became so popular that he began to “write” a series of Dear KC columns in which he “gave” advice to other people's pets. Jacobs's experience with police harassment, which sadly is still a part of Key West life, also takes up much of Jacob's book. There are also bits and pieces of Key West life, as Jacobs experienced them.
Though as a blind man Jacobs could not enjoy a good drag show – a mostly visual experience – it would have been interesting if he had given us his thoughts on female impersonators in Key West; a drag queen Mecca if there ever was one. And no one puts on a better drag show in this town than the “girls” of the 801 Cabaret, located on the second floor of the Bourbon Street Publishers.
According to Pistol & Enema, “the information source for Key West”, the Cabaret “is dedicated to drag shows that will entertain you in a fun way. . . . These guys work very hard to look as cheap as they do, so be generous. The more support you give them, the better and more wild the show gets. You don't have many chances on this earth to interact with your entertainment. Have some fun, scream, whistle, tip and applaud as they remind us that it's fantastic to be gay and have fun.” Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered people, straights and folks of indeterminate gender or sexual orientation gather at the 801 Cabaret to enjoy “the best show in town”.
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