Fringe Florida: Travels Among Mud Boggers, Furries, Ufologists, Nudists, and Other Lovers of Unconventional Lifestyles (48 page)

eyebrows. My web-browsing history probably put me on some National

Security watch list. Not that I visited any sites promoting criminal ac-

tivity, but my searches would appear obsessively strange to the outside

world, or at least outside Florida.

But the lesson from the e-mail is that there is always more to the

story; things are not always as they appear.

The agenda of the Beyond Leather event where Foxy and Sherifox

shared techniques of their fantasy also reminds me how relatively little

of the fringe in the big state of Florida I was able to include in this

book. Chronicling all the unusual subcultures and interesting people

in the Sunshine State would require an encyclopedia; I selected ones I

found iconic in some way.

This book is a snapshot in time, and undoubtedly something

stranger or more obscure is just around the corner. The lives of many

in this book have changed since I interviewed them.

Ponygroom Tim and Ponygirl Lyndsey adopted a human pet and

opened a pony-play training operation. Lyndsey started a web design

business specializing in lifestyle websites. Aside from demonstrat-

proof

ing their bedroom abduction techniques, Foxy and Sherifox won an-

other international pony-play championship. They, along with Tim and

Lyndsey, took their pony-play show to New York and paraded through

Central Park.

The furry bottlenose dolphin, his killer whale partner, and their pet

dragon moved to Elko, Nevada. The killer whale took a job as an ar-

mored car driver.

Monkey Mom returned the following Little League season with yet

another baby spider monkey. Florida herpers joined together to build

an adoption center in Margate for unwanted Burmese pythons. The

project was delayed after they failed to get building permits and the

adi

city pointed out the location wasn’t zoned for animals.

ro

As this book goes to press, hundreds are searching the Everglades

lF

for Burmese pythons. In an effort to eradicate and collect data on the

egn

invasive snakes, FFWCC organized the month-long 2013 Python Chal-

irF

lenge, offering a total of five thousand dollars in cash prizes to con-

testants who turned in the longest and the most snakes. Participants

452

only had to pay twenty-five dollars and take a short online course in

identifying pythons and humane killing methods (bolt through the

brain). More than one thousand people from across America signed

up, including cadres of wannabe reality stars.

Leather & Lace MC formed new chapters in Alabama and Southern

California and plans to open a women’s retreat in Florida. Bare Bun

Bikers plans to open a nude biker resort on the Suwannee River.

King of Trampa Joe Redner was diagnosed with lung cancer and so

far has beaten it. Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp opened a history mu-

seum with air-conditioning.

Pete Terhurne, a.k.a. Poobah, passed on to the great show in the

sky and is greatly missed by his buddy Ward Hall, king of the Ameri-

can sideshow. Showtown USA reduced the food menu and remodeled

and ditched the wall between the bar and restaurant in order win back

smoking customers. Sadly, several of the Bill Browning paintings were

removed or painted over when the owner flirted with turning the iconic

venue into a sports bar.

To the disappointment of swingers far and wide, particularly those

who had already paid, Swingfest was cancelled the following year. Un-

der new ownership of a Kentucky “lifestyle” company, the couples-

swopping event has since resumed in Florida reportedly drawing even

larger crowds. Angye Fox added another business venture to her re-

proof

sume: Owner of the Mile High Fantasy Club, which, as you probably

guessed, involves people having sex on planes. And fringe goes on

growing and morphing in the sunny state of Florida.

eugolipe 552

proof

s

It took far more than a village to make this book possible, more

tn like an entire state of wondrous people who were willing to

e

share their lives with me and many others behind the scenes

M

whose assistance was crucial to this book’s completion. The

g

idea for
Fringe
Florida
may have remained only that if not for

d

the encouragement of former University Press of Florida edi-

el tor John Byram and his willingness to help me hone a proposal.

W

Many thanks to Amy Gorelick, John’s successor, for not giving

o

up on me as I stumbled along the learning curve of book pub-

n

lishing and battled an unending writer’s neurosis.

K

Lori Ballard, an amazing photographer, was adventurous

Ca enough to go along to fetish environs and share her images

as well as her friendship. Her wealth of knowledge about the

sideshow world was also invaluable.

Thanks to those who shared insight into Florida’s uncon-

ventional worlds, history, geology, and culture who were not

previously mentioned in the book: Fetish Factory co-owner

Glenn (who prefers to go by first name only); Jenny Tinnel,

Kenny Holmes, and Ernestine Spradley at the Florida Fish &

Wildlife Conservation Commission; the Daytona Beach Visi-

tor’s Authority; Paul George, an encyclopedia of South Florida

proof

history, at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida; Jenni-

fer Haz with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau,

who shared ideas and her Rolodex; Jessica Taylor with the Fort

Lauderdale Visitor’s Authority; the folks at the Collier County

History Museum; Eric Keaton with Pasco County Tourism; Deb

Bowen at Caliente Resort; Carolyn Hawkins with the American

Association for Nude Recreation; Vesta at Fetish Con; Jean Vil-

lamizar at the Mutiny in Miami; and Kay Rosaire of Kay Ro-

saire’s Big Cat Encounter. My sincere apologies and thanks to

others whom I may have overlooked.

Colleagues Craig Pittman of the
Tampa
Bay
Times
; Trevor

Aaronson of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting;

and Lyn Millner, journalism professor at Florida Gulf Coast

University, gave precious feedback that helped me take the

book to a higher level. Editor Tim Meyer’s eagle eye and sense

for story provided an additional polish.

And finally, this book would have never come to fruition

75

without the help and support of my personal editor and best

2

friend, Laura Keane, and my partner in fringe and love, my husband,

James Harvey. Laura’s tireless commitment, late-night edits, pep

talks, tough love, and willingness to call bull on my demons of fear

was way beyond what any editor or friend should be expected to pro-

vide. All the thanks in the world fall short of my gratitude.

James’s unwavering support and willingness to pass me meat on

stick during writing sessions when I was too rabid to approach de-

serves a clean house and my gourmet, home-cooked meals for the rest

of his life. Add to that his willingness to accompany to me to places

that made him turn fifty shades of red and my servitude should carry

on to another lifetime. Oh, where’s Nellie?

proof

stneMgdelWonKCa 852

s

Chapter 1. Menagerie of Fla-zoons

et

Fla-zoon
is my play off the scientific term
neozoon
, meaning animals

o

that live outside their natural habitat. Repeating “Florida exotic ani-

n

mal owner” becomes tedious.

FFWCC’s website, www.myfwc.com, is an overwhelming warehouse

:

of information and served as a constant reference to the myriad of

eg rules and regulations involving animals in Florida. FFWCC has several

n

levels of licenses and permits for captive wild animals, but when you

i

cut through the bureaucratic lingo, it comes down to this: Class I con-

r

sists primarily of animals that can quickly kill you—big cats, baboons,

bears, chimpanzees, etc. Class II includes those such as a spider mon-

F

key that could merely disfigure you. Class III animals are those that

F

might bite and give you rabies or shake up the ecosystem if allowed

into the wild. “Reptiles of Concern” became “Conditional Species” after

o

it became clear that Burmese pythons had invaded parts of the Ever-

sd glades. These include seven varieties of pythons, the green anaconda,

n

and the Nile monitor.

a

A note about Gator Ron’s near-death experience with the loose

r

black mamba: A
St.
Petersburg
Times
article reported that it was a green t

mamba. He told me black. Memories are fallible. Regardless, a bite

s

from either snake is extremely deadly.

Steve Sipek, a.k.a. Spanish Tarzan and former owner of Bobo the

proof

tiger, was arrested in 2012 on misdemeanor charges of housing dan-

gerous exotic cats without a USDA permit. FFWCC officers confiscated

his two tigers and a leopard. Sipek had previously been cited for not

properly feeding or containing the big cats. But the story doesn’t end

there. He held a fund-raiser at his compound the next month in hopes

of raising $8,100 to build new enclosures to meet regulation standards

so that he could get his cats back. In a showing of Fla-zoon camarade-

rie, Dade City’s Wild Things loaned him its Leon the Lion, and support-

ers paid twenty dollars to get their photos taken with Sipek and the

borrowed cat.
Palm
Beach
Post
’s Kimberly Miller reported that event

organizers claimed they raised almost $7,000.

As for Carole Baskin’s financial state, she says after the legal wran-

gling over her late husband’s estate, she got $300,000 and the mul-

tiple investment properties they acquired while married. Charity Star,

which tracks non-profits’ finances, confirms she doesn’t receive a sal-

ary from Big Cat Rescue. Her daughter, who acts as president, and

her husband, treasurer and chief financial officer, each earns $42,655

annually.

In case you are wondering where one might find monkey diapers,

a Marmoset Mom in south Florida sells them and miniature monkey

9 5

clothing ensembles to monkey owners around the globe. We conversed

2

online, and she shared what led her to run a monkey business: “I enjoy being

a monkey mommy. . . . Every morning when I wake up it feels like Christmas

morning when I was young but BETTER!”

Chapter 2. The King of Trampa

While Joe Redner has been labeled the “father of the lap dance” by Tampa

Bay news outlets, the title may be erroneous. Nude dancers at Mitchell Broth-

ers O’Farrell Theatre in San Francisco reportedly were sitting in customers’ laps

in 1980.

Joe’s recollection of dates in some cases varied from those previously re-

ported by local media. However, there were no substantive differences. I

checked out his property records and criminal history and confirmed that he’s

never been arrested for anything more serious than he admitted. Excellent pro-

files of him by Rory O’Connor in
Tampa
magazine in 1982 and John Guzzo in

Cigar
City
in 2010 were particularly helpful.

University of South Florida historian Gary Mormino’s interview with the

late James Clendinnen, a former
Tampa
Tribune
editor, provided colorful in-

sights into Tampa’s hellhole-of-the-South era. Scott Deitche, the don of Tam-

pa’s Mafia history, and his book
Cigar
City
Mafia:
A
Complete
History
of
the
Tampa
Underworld
were invaluable resources.

Regarding the lap dance trio appearing as a human spider: I’m aware that

arachnids have eight legs, but just consider the one at Mons a freak of nature.

Chapter 3. Sisters of Steel

proof

There’s much debate about the genesis of the term
1%er
. Biker historian

William Delaney, a Western Carolina University assistant professor and former

Outlaws MC member, dates it and early public perception of bikers as criminals

back to the 1949 motorcycle rally in Hollister, California. Following the Ameri-

can Motorcycle Association–sanctioned event, an MC raised hell in the small

California town. How much lawlessness actually occurred is unknown, but a

staged photograph of a drunken biker at the event appeared in
Life
magazine.

Several newspapers reported that the AMA issued a press release following the

rally that said 99 percent of bikers were lawful, upstanding citizens. The AMA

denies putting out the statement. The term also reflects 1%ers’ unwillingness

e

to belong to the AMA, the nation’s most recognized motorcycling association.

gn

The U.S. Justice Department’s Gang Threat Assessment Report 2009 notes