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"I’m
a Boston boy, born and bred in Beantown, though I spent most of my summers
in my mother’s native South," writes Robert Mykle in his bio.
As a child of the much maligned 60s, he was pro-active in many of the
news-making events of the day (Free Bobby Seal, the Chicago Seven, the
March on Washington). Between demonstrations, he managed to spend ten
years playing bass guitar and singing for a rock 'n' roll band while
making the folk coffeehouse circuit. He can still do a pretty
good Dylan imitation. After graduation from University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Mykle headed for an extended tour of South America. While living in Colombia he developed many personal contacts, including three former presidents and Nobel Laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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Mykle spelunked in Bolivia and was in Chile three months before the Chilean 'coup. He climbed the second highest mountain in Colombia, the Sierra Nevada de Cocuy, "10 days and I was never warm once." During one of many jungle trips through the Amazon and Orinoco River basins, he crossed paths with leftist guerillas who, fortunately, were too preoccupied to bother with a lost gringo.
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the largest copper exploration projects in Colombia, Mykle became friendly
with the Embera
Indians. Constantly forced to balance relations with guerillas and paramilitary
groups, he was finally forced by kidnapping threats to return to the
U. S. Killer 'Cane was the recipient of the Florida Historical Library Foundation, 2003 Carolynn Washbon Book Award and the Florida Writers' Association Royal Palm Award for best nonfiction of 2002.
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 Murindó, Chocó Colombia: Compañia Minera Archangel’s exploration crew gathering mineral samples on top of Cerro Rico, 1997.
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 With his trusty Ovation guitar and Hohner blues harmonica. A child of the 60s, he can still do a passable Mister Tambourine Man.
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Robert currently lives in Florida |
PLACES TO VISIT: The Lawrence E. Will Museum, Belle Glade, Florida LINKS:
Jimmy "Frog" Statham Florida History and Antiquities: Okeechobee Hurricane 1928: Hurricane City: Florida Historical Society:
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My good friend and fellow authoer Jerry Pozner
and his book Monkey Pudding and Screenplay. Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor Unisys Hurricane Tracking: Planeta.com South America Explorer: Florida Writers' Association: Tampa's own Tim Dorsey (though Riviera Beach
can also lay claim to him) |
Email Author
By Mail:
Robert Mykle
P.O Box 6296
Lake Worth, FL 33466
