For thrills in Key West

Gore Vidal and the son of convicted atomic spies at the
Literary Seminar, and jet ski's on the waves

by Lucy Komisar

The excitement of places we visit is often tied to the history of what happened there. And those stories of the past are often best told by fiction. Where better to learn about historical fiction than in a historical landmark in a town that is saturated with fiction! I'm talking about the Key West Literary Seminar, an annual January event that pulls writers and readers and people who want some culture along with the sun to the place that Ernest Hemingway helped make famous with his 1937 novel, "To Have and Have Not," about a fishing boat captain who runs contraband between Cuba and Florida.

The 3-day event takes place at the San Carlos, a cream-colored building on Duval Street in Key West. An historic landmark, itself, it was built by Cuban architects in the Spanish colonial style. Inside, there are Spanish wall tiles. José Martí launched final phase of Cuba's independence from Spain from the balcony of San Carlos in 1902. The building was restored in 1985, and reopened in 1992, 100 years after Martí's visit. We heard the history from Rafael Peñalver, President of the San Carlos Institute, who stood in front of the graceful folds of the red velvet curtain that falls from a high stage arch on the stage. Then Rafael and the rest of us trooped over to a champagne reception at the Aububon House and Tropical Gardens.

Historical fiction was the topic of the 2009 Key West Literary Seminar: "Historical Fiction and the Search for Truth." Hemingway is gone, but the seminar had a star that shined as bright, the erasable Gore Vidal, playwright, biographer and raconteur, and very political in all.

At the dinner in the garden of Key West Lighthouse the night before he spoke, Vidal, 83, was at a table of friends. I took some and he looked quizzical; so, I went over to introduce myself. He asked me to refill his Scotch, and named an expensive brand. I went to the bar, asked for it, and a young bartender looked as quizzical as Vidal. "We have only one Scotch, this is it." It was Red Label. Good but not the best. 

The evening after that dinner, he was on the stage at the San Carlos. On the backdrop was a painting of him as younger man from a poster of the political play, "The Tenth Man," along with Shakespeare and some other icons.

In a gray suit, tieless cream shirt, brown wood cane and shiny white hair he recalled how he'd learned about American politics. He said, "I was brought up in Washington DC, in the house of a senator." He called it the capital's "engine room." He said, "My grandfather was blind. From the age of ten, I used to lead him on the floor of the Senate. I'd find a seat for myself."

From his first American political novel, Washington, D.C., 1967, Vidal went on to write a series now known as The American Chronicles or the Chronicles of Empire. Burr, Lincoln, 1876, Empire, Hollywood, and The Golden Age.

"Did you wrap it all up with The Golden Age?" someone asked.

Vidal replied, "I was trying to but I didn’t, so I'll have another go at it. The most important period I skipped was the Mexican war. I've always hated it. That’s no reason not to write about something."

Why do writers of historical fiction choose certain themes? Vidal's Julian is about the nephew of the Emperor Constantine who converted Rome to Christianity. When Julian came to power, he tried to stop monotheism, but ruled too briefly to have an impact. The book's character Libanius disdains "that pernicious Christian doctrine which asserts that a sprinkling of water (and a small donation) will wash away sin, again and again and again."

Vidal explained, "I don’t like monotheism. It was a much better world in third, four, fifth centuries. When monotheism grabbed us by the throat, only one god, one king, one factory, one wage for all, wow the damage that was done from that moment on is still with us. Out of that came all the wars: there can only be one leader of the world, one religion." He said, "In the war of the Roundheads, people went into the war shouting 'Kill for Jesus'."

What happens when subjects of a historical novel critique the author? The seminar hosted a riveting event by inviting Michael Meeropol and his daughter Ivy to a panel. Michael is the son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted as Soviet spies and executed in 1953. Their story is disguised in novelist E.L. Doctorow's "The Book of Daniel." People were fascinated and hung around after the talk to chat.

Michael found some redemptive aspects in the book. He noted that, "It was a time of the war against fascism," and said, "There is a view out there that it wasn’t a bad thing to help the Russians. Ed Doctorow decided in the novel to put that view out there. It's one of the reasons I love the novel despite the fact there are real liberties taken with the historical record, some of which offended a lot of people."

Arguing about the case itself, he said, "The biggest mistake was to accept major flaw that David Greenglass, by drawing some graphics, could give away then major secrets of the atom bomb." Greenglass was part of the plot, was arrested by the FBI, and informed on his sister Ethel and her husband.

Meeropol pointed out, "Treason is making war on the United States, giving aid and comfort to your enemies. They were convicted of aiding an ally in wartime. Ed Doctorow gets it right." However, he noted, "He said he did no research. He said it’s a work of imagination."

One of Vidal's stories might be a coda to the Rosenberg case. Citing "Family of Secret" by Russ Baker, he said, "Prescott Bush [George W.'s grandfather] was dealing with the Nazis when he was still in the Senate from Connecticut. He got a warning from President Roosevelt who used two words, 'treason' and the other was even darker. And Prescott Bush vanished into the bush for a time." But he wasn't tried for treason.

I'd see Vidal again at the closing champagne gala at the old Customs House which is now the Key West Museum of Art and History. I hoped he liked the drinks there! It was ironic to see him perched under a sign for an exhibit about American icons.

The themes focused on were fictionalizing of political history (that's one for Vidal!), the relation of fiction to fact in historical fiction, transforming the past into a story that lives in the present, and history as a path to truth. Others of the more than three dozen authors at the conference were Peter Matthiessen, Russell Banks, Joyce Carol Oats and William Kennedy. After all that heavy stuff, I was happy to throw it all to the winds. Literally. A friend and I joined a small group from Barefoot Billy's going out on jet skis.

For an hour and a half, we sped around Key West and Stock Island to the North, passing the Naval station, and maneuvering through boat channels on a Yamaha 3-seater. (I don't recommend more than two.) Woosh and slam and smack and whap over the waves, first the Bay and then the Atlantic. It was more an athletic sport than a visual tour. We saw the shore, but at a distance and speed.

The front-runners were going 60 mph. I was comfortable at 30, though I got up to 40 and even 50. Bouncing over the waves felt like riding a bronco! You need a good back!

We passed the Black Yacht, and Jamie our guide, a native of Key West, said it got stuck in a big storm and took several years to get unstuck.

The temperature was in the upper 70s, but I was glad I had shorts and a t-shirt over my bathing suit and had stuck a thin windbreaker in the small compartment in front of the seat. There was a lot of spray. I stashed my camera in a heavy duty plastic bag and took it out for our 5 stops. It never got wet.

Back on shore, late one afternoon, we made our way to Mallory Square on the northwest corner of the island where people gather to watch the sunset. But first we stopped at the near-by Sweets of Paradise run by Walt and Lindsey Kramer to pick up a scrumptious homemade Key Lime pie to take to some friends for dinner. We couldn't pass up some of the Kramers' own thick chocolaty fudge. And a Tortuga Rum Cake from the Cayman Islands! It was a happy dinner party.

If you go

Key West Literary Seminar, (888) 293-9291, mail@keywestliteraryseminar.org, http://www.keywestliteraryseminar.org/. The 2010 event, January 7-10, is "Clearing the Sill of the World" – a celebration of 60 years of American poetry. Participants include United States Poets Laureate Kay Ryan, Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Maxine Kumin, Mark Strand, and Robert Pinsky, and Pulitzer Prize winners Natasha Trethewey, Yusef Komunyakaa, and James Tate. Cost $495.

For lodging information in Key West: http://www.fla-keys.com/.

Barefoot Billy's, Billy Masblech, The Reach Resort Beach, (305) 849-0815 and (305) 296-5000 x6670. http://www.barefootbillys.com/. Tours cost Single $130, Double $150. Tour Times: 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm. Take sunscreen and sunglasses; Billy provides towels. The Black Yacht may still be there!

Sweets of Paradise, 291 Front Street (Clinton Square Market), (305) 296-1611. http://sweetsofparadise.com/.  Daily, 10am - 6pm.

Photos by Lucy Komisar