OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS HANGOUTS
FOR SOME OF SOUTH FLORIDA'S
SHADIEST CHARACTERS IN THE
1980S.
THE MUTINY HOTEL IN COCONUT
GROVE HOSTED WILD PARTIES
ATTENDED BY COCAINE COWBOYS,
HITMEN, GUN RUNNERS, AND MOVIE
STARS.
NOW, WE ARE LEARNING MORE ABOUT
THE MUTINY FROM A NEW BOOK THAT
MAY BE COMING TO A THEATER NEAR
YOU.
JOINING ME TONIGHT IS THE
AUTHOR OF HOTEL SCARFACE, ROBEN
FARZAD, WHO GREW UP IN SOUTH
FLORIDA.
I THINK YOU ARE EXCITED.
I THINK THAT YOU HAVE BEEN AT
SO MANY DIFFERENT NEWSPAPERS
AND NEW STATIONS.
I JUST WANT TO SAY HOW MUCH
I LOVE THAT MIAMI SWEATSHIRT.
LET'S GO BACK TO THE 1980S.
YOU ARE MUCH YOUNGER BUT LET'S
TAKE THE AUDIENCE BACK TO THE
1980S.
WHAT WAS GOING ON IN MIAMI
DURING THAT TIME PERIOD?
AND SPECIFICALLY, WHAT WAS
GOING ON AT THE MUTINY HOTEL IN
COCONUT GROVE.
IF YOU REWIND TO THE EARLY
70s AND 80s, LOOK AT A PHOTO OF
THE SKYLINE.
THERE IS ONE BUILDING, MAYBE
THE SUNTRUST TOWER.
SOUTH MIAMI BEACH HAD NOT
ARRIVED.
THE ONE HOT SPOT WHERE CELEBS
WOULD COME TO, WHERE DOPERS
WOULD GO TO, WHERE VENEZUELAN
OIL MONEY WOULD GO TO IS RIGHT
ON THE CORNER OF SOUTH BAYSHORE
DRIVE.
AND YOU KNOW, WE ALSO HAD A
RECORDING STUDIO NEXT DOOR,
WHERE THE EAGLES RECORDED,
STEVIE NICKS WOULD SHOW UP.
YOU NAME IT.
CROSBY, NEIL YOUNG.
IT WAS KIND OF LIKE OUR STUDIO
54 IN THE ABSENCE OF EVERYTHING
ELSE.
AND, WHAT ABOUT THE
CRIMINALS THAT WERE THERE?
THE DRUG DEALERS AND COCAINE
COWBOYS?
WHO WERE THOSE GUYS?
YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE $5
BILLION CASH SURPLUS THAT THE
FEDERAL RESERVE HAD IN THE
1980S.
THAT'S JUST A CRAP TON OF
MONEY.
YOU NEED TO SPEND IT.
FOR EXAMPLE, POURING DON
PERIGNON DOWN YOUR HOT TUB,
THAT'S WHERE YOU WOULD GO.
THE CELEBS WOULD SEE YOU.
MONEY WAS NO OBJECT.
YOU WOULD PARK YOUR CAR, THIS
WAS RUN WITH HOT CASH.
THIS WAS A PRIMARY SALOON THAT
HAD EVERYTHING FOR SALE.
AND THIS IS WHERE THEY WENT
TO PARTY.
IF ALL OF THE GUYS WERE THERE,
WHY DIDN'T THE POLICE SHOW UP
AT THE MUTINY HOTEL AND ARREST
THEM?
IT WAS A SYMBIOTIC
RELATIONSHIP.
YOU LOOK AT SOMEBODY LIKE MR.
MORALES WHO WAS LEGENDARY.
HE KNEW TO PLAY TIGHTLIPPED.
YOU KNOW, THE IRS EVEN.
YOU ARE ALWAYS INFORMING.
AND, WITH THE CUBAN MAFIA,
THERE WAS NOTHING PERSONAL.
YOU DID IT OUT OF SELF-
PRESERVATION.
AND IF YOU ARE THE COPS, MORALE
IS AWFUL IN 1981 WHEN YOU
BECOME THE COCAINE AND MURDER
CAPITAL OF THE COUNTRY.
YOU NEED AN INFORMANT, IDEALLY
NONVIOLENT DOPERS TO TELL YOU
WHO THE MOST MURDEROUS PEOPLE
WERE.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BOOK, THE
PERSON WHO BECAME THE
INSPIRATION FOR TONY MONTANA IN
YOUR BOOK.
I LOOK AT SOMEBODY WHO IS A
WILDLIFE LOVING KINGPIN WHO NOW
OWNS A ZOO IN WEST MIAMI-DADE.
HE LOOKS LIKE TONY MONTANA.
I MEAN, THE PICTURE THAT HE
SHARED WITH ME FROM 1979, I
COULD SEE HOW OLIVER STONE AND
RYAN DEPALMA GO THERE AND MAKE
A COMPOSITE OF THESE PEOPLE.
HAVING SAID THAT, 35, 36 YEARS
AT SCARFACE, EX-CUBAN PEOPLE
HAVE SAID, HE IS BASED ON ME.
YOU KNOW YOU'RE ONTO
SOMETHING.
THERE IS STILL A MUTINY
HOTEL IN COCONUT GROVE.
THIS PLACE WAS ABANDONED IN
THE 1980S.
HURRICANE ANDREW DID A NUMBER
ON IT.
IT WAS GUTTED IN THE LATE 90s
AND OPENED AS A CORPORATE
HOTEL.
THERE ARE STILL CERTAIN SHADOWS,
THE CLUB IS NOT THERE, MAYBE
THE SHAPE OF A POOL.
THERE WAS A STAFF REUNION AND
ONE OF THE HOSTESSES INSISTS
THAT THE LOBBY SMELLS THE SAME.
THE GHOSTS LINGER.
NOW, TELL ME ABOUT THE
POSSIBILITY OF YOUR BOOK
BECOMING EITHER A TV SERIES OR
A MOVIE.
THERE WERE SO MANY THINGS
THAT I HAVE TO LEAVE OUT OF THE
BOOK.
WE WERE LOOKING FOR A
MULTIMEDIA SECOND LIFE.
WE GOT REALLY LUCKY, THEY DID
EMPIRE FALLS ON HBO, LAS VEGAS
ON NBC.
DAVE ADAPTED MID-BOOKS -- THEY
HAVE ADAPTED MANY BOOKS LIKE
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA.
WE ARE TRYING TO DO A CABLE TV
TREATMENT OF THIS.
FINGERS CROSSED.
I CAN'T WAIT.
ROBEN FARZAD, THANK YOU.
YOU'RE HERE FOR THE BOOK FAIR.
SUNDAY AT 4:30 PRESENTING ON
THE WOLFSON CAMPUS.
YOU CAN GO ONLINE, W WW.HOTEL