Books that like us

I had one of those interesting ESP-type things happen to me the other day. I was at the Bookstore getting breakfast and while I was waiting for it to be prepared, I was looking around, you know, just looking here and there, nothing serious, and for some reason, I was drawn to the book, "Miami for Families; A vacation guide for parents and kids." I went over and picked it up but I just looked at the cover and put it town. It was the only book in the whole bookstore that I touched.

About 12 hours later, that same night, I got an email from the book's author Laura Albritton telling me that there is a mention of the Grapevine in the book, on page 41 -- she feels the Grapevine is a great source for things to do for families visiting Coconut Grove.

Ironically, the book was sitting right next to the Arva Moore Parks Book, "Coconut Grove, Images of America," where I and the Grapevine are featured on page 126. Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Anyway, I found it interesting that these two ladies, one a travel/tourism writer and one a highly respected historian, who I have admired for most of my life, felt so highly of the Grapevine, that they recommended us in their books. While there are are a handful of people in the Grove, well maybe, two or three, who have always felt that the Grapevine was bad for tourism and business because I bring up subjects they don't want me to bring up, you know, real news-type things. They have tried to stifle me over the years for their own reasons when a travel writer is using me as a reference and so is an historian (and they are not the only ones).

It's just interesting to see how you are perceived by different people. You have your fans and then you have your detractors.