Key West Lou / ALEXANDER THE GREAT

One of the greatest and most successful military commanders of all time was Alexander the Great. Born in 356 B.C. He became King of the ancient Greek kingdom Macedon at 20 following his father’s assassination. Alexander died young at 32.

During those 12 years, conquered most of the known world. Such is why he is referred to as Alexander the Great.

His father King Philip II got his son the very best teacher. From 13 to near 20, he was tutored by Aristotle.

Alexander was never defeated in battle. Won 20 major battles. His soldiers were extremely loyal to him.

He founded 70 cities. Most were named Alexandria after him. The most notable Alexandria in Egypt, today Egypt’s second largest city.

Alexander had a fantastic horse. Bucephalus. He got him wild, broke him, trained him and rode him in all of his campaigns.

Alexander was extremely brave. Always at the front of his soldiers. The first into battle.

The cause of Alexander’s death a mystery to this day. He got a pain in his back and was dead 12 days later.

Even his burial place remains shrouded in mystery. No one knows where, not even close. Archaeologists still looking for his final resting place – anywhere from Egypt to Greece.

Names, names, names. Where do names come from, are they real or acquired, etc.?

Very few are aware of the name of Shakespeare’s wife. Anne Hathaway.

Born 1556 A.D., 426 years before her namesake the famous Hollywood star Anne Hathaway.

The movie star’s family name was Hathaway. Her father a labor attorney, her mother an actress. The movie star was actually named “Anne” after Shakespeare’s wife. At birth, not when she became an actress.

Some cartoon characters have middle names. Most, if not all, people are unaware.

Here goes! One you might not believe. For real, however.

Donald Duck’s middle name is Fauntleroy. Donald Fauntleroy Duck.

Wow!

The four most popular dog names in the U.S. are Bella, Luna, Charlie and Max.

Jimmy Buffett, the voice of Huckleberry Finn.

In November 2011, Buffett was the voice of Huckleberry Finn on Mark Twain’s Words & Music, a benefit for Mark Twain’s Boyhood Home and Museum. It was released on Mailboat Records.

In August 2013, Buffett released the album Songs From St. Somewhere. He recorded many of the songs at Eden Rock, St. Barth’s.

By 2020, Buffett also had a collection of songs he wrote that might be discarded as “lesser – known.” All recorded on various guitars. He released them in album form from songs no one knew by heart.

Buffett’s years were adding up. His health not the best. He performed his final full concert at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on May 6, 2023. He made two final concert appearances, as an unannounced guest, at concerts by Coral Reefer Band members in Amagansett, New York on June 11 and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, on July 2.

The Portsmouth appearance was his final one before his death.

Equal Strain on All Parts was released posthumously in November 2023. Buffett got the idea for the album title from his grandfather’s description of a nap.

Buffett was posthumously selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024 in the musical excellence category.

This is not the end of Jimmy Buffett in my exploration of his life. Though gone, he will live on forever. His music will never die.

Tomorrow, I’ll touch on his musical style.

An historical fact. Old Faithful, the geyser, was used as a “laundromat.” In the later 1800’s, many travelers who made it to the land that would become Yellowstone didn’t need to carry further with dirty clothes. They just dropped them in Old Faithful’s bubbly pool. The clothes came out clean. Warm, too.

Key West’s Edward “Coto” Garcia  was selected to sing at the New York World’s Fair this day in 1939.

I recall my father taking me to the New York World’s Fair in 1940. The World’s Fair ran two seasons, 1939 and 1940.

I was 5 years old. I was impressed by all I saw! Overwhelming!

The sphere and ball. Think it was called the Trylon and Perisphere. All white.

I recall how tired I was. We walked all day. I recall flowers everywhere. Different colors. Jets of water shooting into the sky.

I cannot recall specifically any of the displays. I was too young. I do remember viewing the exhibits in awe, however. They all represented “tomorrow.”

On this day in 1999 after an $8 million restoration of the Key West Custom House, aka the Key West Museum of Art and History, the building was reopened. Lisa was a significant worker in the fund raising endeavor. Her first job in Key West was at the Custom House. I think her position was Development Director or something similar.

She also chaired a huge black tie banquet in the Custom House to celebrate the building’s reopening.

I attended with an overflow table of friends. I was proud of Lisa and the job she did that evening.

I was especially moved by the patriotic feeling that permeated the room. Key Westers expressing their American feelings. At one point and unplanned, a woman stood from her seat at her table and began singing The Star Spangle Banner. Everyone immediately stood and joined in. A chilling experience.

Another patriotic day forever to be recalled is this day in history in 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech before 250,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

I close with Pepsi-Cola.

Pepsi-Cola weas invented by pharmacist Caleb Bradham of New Bern, North Carolina. He first called it “Brad’s Drink.” After 5 years and on this day in 1898, he changed the name to Pepsi-Cola.

Enjoy your day!

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]