Another Henritta story because, on my second night of retirement, a few details come back. But first, I had a productive three-hour lunch with Le Compte Lamot on Wednesday planning our version of Cinco de Mayo, "Disco de Mayo"; he will take the back bar and I will host the front. I'm looking for some recordings of Lupe Velez. Strangely, there was no solid food during this lunch.

Henrietta had captured nearly all the visiting and transplanted New Yorkers and was describing how rough it was on the queens here in the sixties. Arrests, beatings, and general abuse abounded. She talked about how blacks had to have a card detailing where they worked and at what hours in order to be on Miami Beach; even entertainers like Sammie Davis Jr. had to leave The Beach by a certain hour. Overtown had hotels for them.

So, it was natural that one of us asked how much she had suffered. "Oh, I was OK," she told us. "My parents owned the most popular Italian restaurant on Miami Beach, Mario's. Back then everything was tied into The Mob, and I worked for Meyer Lansky, who lived near us. You know, Meyer Lansky the gangster?" Ghasps emitted and eyebrows rose; of course we knew who he was. (Lansky was the brains behind the Eastern mob and ran Miami and Havana for decades. He was so slick, the law never got him.) "Well, because of that," she continued, "the police never touched me. Back then every cop was paid off."

Again, I thought, someone has to chronicle this story of early drag, camp, and gangsters in Miami. I saw Carl tonight while making all the stops, and he agreed that perhaps a long article on this time and this incredible person could jump start such an undertaking. "You know, Meyer Lansky, the gangster?".....Priceless.