Based on the memoirs of a Pearl Harbor survivor. Letters from two pen pals take the reader on a journey into the past, a past where nightmares came true, and when hatred reigned.
Mark Carlos McGinty is a descendant of Cuban cigar makers whose work has appeared in Maybourne Magazine, Cigar City Magazine and La Gaceta. He grew up on ropa vieja, Cuban sandwiches, café con leche, and fresh-squeezed OJ from his grandfather’s tree in West Tampa. His favorite cigar is the Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8. Mark graduated from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and received his Mas
Background
Information
The Cigar Maker
The Cigar City. The year is 1898. Young Cuban rebel Salvador Ortiz and his family have escaped the hardship of war-torn Cuba, but the union halls, cigar factories, and dark alleys of Tampa are filled with violence and vendetta. Salvador must defy constant labor strife and deadly corruption in a one-industry town known for backroom cockfights, street thugs, late-night abductions and mass production of the world’s best hand-rolled stogies. An ideological battle for control of the cigar industry tests Salvador’s self-respect and love of hard work as he fights to abandon his rambunctious, outlaw past and lead his proud Cuban family into a colorful immigrant society. His wish for a peaceful life as a husband, a father, and a man of dignity is threatened by a lawless underworld and a cultural conflict with a dangerous, bloody history.
Birth Place
Greensboro, NC USA
Accomplishments
THE CIGAR MAKER
*Finalist - Book of the Year 2010
*Honorable Mention - General Fiction - London Book Festival
*Honorable Mention - General Fiction - New England Book Festival
*Honorable Mention - General Fiction - DIY Book Festival
ELVIS AND THE BLUE MOON CONSPIRACY
Honorable Mention - General Fiction - Eric Hoffer Book Award 2003
Share
Save
[