No Jews. No Coloreds. No Dogs.
It’s the 1950s and Miami businessman Tootsie Plotnik counts his Bahamian mistress and black business associates among his dearest friends. Yet this is the same man who refers to his African American employees as schvartzes, a derogatory Yiddish term, and comes within inches of murdering an unarmed black teenager.
Still Missing Beulah: Stories of Black and Jews in Mid-Century Miami takes the reader into the heart and mind of an aging Jewish businessman whose prejudices are challenged by the black people who enter his life. Written in the same vein as The Help, this award-winning collection of interlinked short stories documents the struggles Miami’s Je ws and blacks faced during an era when both groups experience rampant discrimination and signs prohibiting blacks and Jews in hotels and clubs were as rampant as palm trees and mosquitoes. Each story is accompanied by a brief historical account of black or Jewish intolerance that illuminates that story.
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PRAISE FOR STILL MISSING BEULAH
The compelling characters and stories . . . take readers on a captivating ride through the past while revealing what life was like for blacks and Jews during this era.
DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA
Miami-Dade Commissioner
. . . a great read. You can't help but become caught up in the dynamic tongue-in cheek dialogue that drives this unusual but loving father-daughter relationship.
STEVEN M. FORMAN
Author – Boca Knights, Boca Mournings, Boca Daze, Eddie the Kid
The stories in this collection are beautifully-written and touching and well worth the hour or two it takes to get lost in Tootsie's and Rebecca's world.
DEBORAH SHLIAN
Florida Book Award Gold Medalist
Author — Rabbit in the Moon, Wednesday's Child, Double Illusion