1674-2 Jane Fisherl
1NIAMI BEACH
from mangroves
to millions
By Ron Laytner
.lane Fisher was holding court.
The former wife of Carl G. Fisher. legen-
dary developer of Miami Beach. sat on a
soft living room chair in a' tiny Sheridan
Aveniue home on Miami Beach.
On her lap was a nervous Italian grey-
hound. On her hack she wore inexpensive
department stibre clothing. In her heart she
carried a priceless library of first edition
memories.
(.ady'•)nne is the elffer statesvyoman of
Miami Beach. She is called before the cam-
eras whenever a well-known landmark such
as the Roney !'laza Hotel is demolished.
The newspaper pictures show a little old
.lady in a construction helmet smiling wist.
.fully as the wrecking hall completes its ha-
voc.
When yearnings for•"the good old days"
beckon. community groups call upon,_lane
Fisher to address their meetings. j•
She poses or. speaks with simple dignity.
then drives home alone in her 1968 Cadil-
lac. There she sits with h'er dog. Alone.
.lane Fisher is among the last survivors
of the great names; the stupendous deeds.
and the legendary frolics which attended
the birth of Miami Beach. She was a living
part of the lite and times of some:of the
greatest names'of Americana.
She was just 'a child bride some:60 years
• .ago when'Miami•Beach was a forlorn sand-
pit. It. became a city inhabited by the fa-
, mous; so that, intertwined 'in' her life are
the likes of Henry Ford. Harvey Firestone.
Julius Fleischman, Gene Tunney,• Al Ca-
pone, Eddie Rickenbacker. Gar. Wood and
Paul Whiteman. Even the Wright brothers
gave her flying lessons!.
At one time she and her famous hus•
hand were worth more than $50 million.
But dial was 40•years ago ... •
Today she is just plain Jane 'Fisher. one
i>f.the many•thousands of elderly retired
Floridians living on the benefits of Social
• Security and Medicare. nourished by'tnem'-
ories ail full life.
If you ask her age she replies: "1 never • •
TROPIC. s•pt•mbor 29, 1968
AA cfwt; Hfva!d Tioip,f
sUti a.q s�,o PigP
JANE FISHER
from. millions
to Medicare
She was 15 when she married a man worth o king's ransom. Together they came to a
swomp and founded o great city. Now, 56 years and four husbands later, 'he still
lives there — on Social Security. Forgotten, but not forgetting
•
tell anyone my age. I was 39 last year and
this year I'm 3R — and if I live long enough
I'II be an infant when I die."
• Actually, when .lane and Carl Fisher .
first arrived in the tropic wilderness that
was'Miami Beach the year was 1912.
When the Fishers arrived with their Ne •
-
gro, valet, friend and companion. Galloway.
Miami was a tiny fishing.village. Its streets. .
were covered by crushed white' rock and its
handful of inhabitants forcod.to wear_
whites so that the dust wouldn't show.
The Beach. itself was covered..as .Pane,
describes it, by "Mangroves. Nothing but
mangroves, coons.. mosquitoes, sandflies
and bugs.. And snakes and everything else ' ,
you could ;think of that wasn't nice." .
• Fisher. a barrel-chested' smiling man
with.intense eyes, could have retired on the •
wealth and fame he had earned before ar-•
riving in Florida that year.
. He was a true' financial genius, a self;
made millionaire before the age of 21. Fish •
-
er's'discovery and promotion of Prest-)i)•.
Lite took 'the kerosene lanterns off Ameri-
ca's earliest automobiles and allowed for
:night driving at speeds above walking pace.
In time. bored.with his company's remark-
able success, he sold out for $9 million.'
i'his same Carl Fisher had been one of
America's first ear defiers. • •
.lane Fisher first saw her future husband
at the beginning of the century by looking
up into the sky. There he• was, promoting
car tales, sitting in an automobile swaying
beneath .a giant hot air .balloon wafting
above the streets of downtown' Indianapolis.
A racing drive? himself, he dreamed up.
designed and built the famous Indianapolis
' Speedway, site ofthe Indianapolis 500.After
15 years of glorious success Fisher sold.out
to,another.young racer who went on to leg-
gendary fame as a wartime flyer and leader.
and most 'recently as head of Eastern Ali-.
lines: Eddie Rickenbacker. .
Fisher. as one of America's earliest auto
• promotors, dreamed of a network of coast-
to-coast.highways and so. with a few adven-.
turous friends, started the nation's highway
system. ' .
Everyrine in,Florida a'1 some time or
another travels across some section :of an
•
•
•
Rosie
the elephant
turned out to be
Robert
FISHER
Con tm mrd
old roadway called the Dixie Highway. Ilut
few realize that Fisher. together with a
group of drivers, navigators. mechanics and
map -makers, armed' with winches. ropes.
machetes. rifles and snake -bite kits --
started that roadway through young Ameri•
ca — north to south from the (rent
Lakes to Miami, more than half a century
ago.
East to west he forged the Lincoln high-
way. encouraging local towns across the
land to build small joining sections of high•
way for his fleet of pioneers to drive over in
pomp and ceremony.
This then was the kind of man who
brought Jane to Miami Heach..Fisher, then
37,. told his 15 -year-old bride that someday
Miami (leach would be n4 rest tropical city
surrounded by glowing white beaches - n
playground of the world.
In the wilderness that eventually be-
came Lincoln Road, he optimistically built
a grand mansion, the Shadows. it stood at
the present location of the high rise build•
ing at 100 Lincoln Road.
"The Shadows was n beautiful house.
.Jane Fisher recalls, "with columns and u
round front overlooking the ocean. lt'haid
three hundred feet of beach with French
doors leading onto a little walkway in front "At one party Henry Ford got up and
of the house. JP played the violin for the orchestra. He liked
""The living room and dining. room and a. me because I had a rocking chair on the
hall all opened"up together set we. could ' front porch. He:fvas'`tibout 15 years older
have parties of 150 to 200 people. We hnd a
ballroom on- the third floor with seven bed-
rooms and a bathroom -dressing -room to
each suite. A high iron fence surrounded
the grounds and we did lots of wonderful
entertaining there. •
"At one time we brought the First lni.er•
national Polo Matches to Miami Beach and
the entire Cuban Army•Polo Team stayed
at the Shadows. The president of Cuba sent
the first Arabian horse ever born on his is-
land as a present to me aboard the presi•
dentia) yacht.
"And once. by coincidence, we were sent
the largest dog in the world and an ele-
phant on- the same train. The dog was an
Irish Wolfhound. Ile measured nine feet.
nine inches from nose to tail. The elephant
was named Rosie by mistake. Years later
Rosie — later Robert — the elephant serves as a diving board at the
Fishers'
fabulous Miami Beach home, the Shadows. The year: 1931
•
frolicked away in Indianapolis or Europe.
"Once we had an air show at the Speed-
way. The Wright broth l!rs invited me up for
an airplane eidir arc}, ffered to give me lea•
sons. 'Their plane'w•as just like a little
cracker box. "Thane, titund out about it
and made me stop. t` "a
"Henry. Ford was the pacemaker at the
Indianapolis Speedway at one time. We al-
ways gave a big Speedway party after the
races. We would open the pool and if. it had
been a goxl day at the track with 00 acci-
dents they would throw ('11r1 in the water
with all his clothes on, watch and every-
thing.
than Carl and he liked to sit on the porch
for hours• rocking rind thinking."
.)ane Fisher describes her most expen-
sive party: •
"it was the Polo 11a11 that I gave at our
casino. I had 350 guests invited and 50(1
came. Ring Lardner •wrote the invitations
for roc. 1 hnd the polo barns reproduced on
the ballrcxim floor. Everyone milled around
walking in and out of.the -polo pony shills.
drinking charnpngne and laughing ..
When Jane threw another party at the
Flamingo Hotel, Paul `.Whiteman brought
his entire orchestra nod played nt no
charge. 1
As thnnk•you, I gave i'nuI n piniiniim
watch and each of his musicians, one of
gold."
'Those were the days of excitement,
we found art the name should have been laughter and parties. The Fishers merrily
Robert. We used hire to help in construe• skipped through lite and money while Mi•
1ion. anti Bench began to take shape beneath
For the Fishers it was their golden ante . their feet.
Winters were spent in the Shadows amidst Ennrmmot expcnsc w1114 involved in
growing Miami (tench, while summers were building the fun city of Fisher's dreams. In
.r 79, 1968 • .
those early 1900's Carl was spending
$52,000 a day, each and every day, for years
-- just on fill.
Hundreds of laborers fought the shrub-•
bery-killing salt carried in the millions of
tons of earth dredged up from Biscayne
Bay. They literally had ,to wash out the
topsoil and plant every seed of grass by
hand.
One year at Christmas Fisher came
home very discouraged. He told Jane that
three more families had left that day and
four more were pulling out at the end of th.;•
week. He cfidriot know •if the Beach projecT1
could continue.
•lane. solved the problem. The largest
pine tree growing in the Miami area was
cut down and placed in her enclosed tennis
courts. She decorated the tree -=- Miami
Beach's first Christmas Tree — with lan-
terns, placed some 500 presents at its base
and had her husband's engineers rig up a
device to simulate a snowfall. Every wonlan
in Miami Hench carne in to sew stockings
and bags and the rnen were provided with
cigars, cigarets and a huge punchbowl. A
Santa. Claus arrived and joined eve(yone'in
singing Christmas Carols. The Shadows was
no oasis in the jungle wilderness.
• "We. hnd between four and five hundred
guests all the people in Miami Beach.
Stone also came from the newly -developing
area of ('ural Cables and from Miami.
"We decided tit) matter how difficult
Miami Bench was, we'd stick it out. Nc
forgot about our northern home towns that
first Christmas ... Miami Bench had be•
(1)115). our home...
The city began to'tnke shape. At first
7
FISHER
Carl Fisher had n hard time selling the
land. So, true to his promotional ways, he
.imply doubled its price. Now that it
seemt•d expensive, they lined np 10 buy.
The posh maulsions and private islands
began to spring up. The gre;a :used the not-
so•great arrived.
"\\C• had the gangster of all gangsters
living oat Palm Island in those days Al
Capone." Nlrs. Fisher recalls. "hut he was
very quiet when he lived here and 1 guess
he was watched very closely. They had a lot
of parties at his place and Capone had his
own little private army protecting him.
"I (don't recall meeting him personally. I
believe 1 was in 8 touring car when any hus-
band was talking to him at one timc.•I nev-
er c'unversec with him ladies just didn't.
but I sass hits on several occasions." .
Miami beach went on to become a suc-
Cess 1122(1 once more the great financial geni-
us was bored. Carl G. Fisher -decided to
build ai neo.' development Montauk Point
on'Loti( Island.
'Confident of his golden touch he person-
ally guaranteed the money of everyone in-
vesting in his new creation. It was the be-
ginriing off' the end.
"In 1112ii'one of our salesmen hyslcrira!
h' wired (inrl that the great hurricane had .
totally wiped out Miami Reach. Carl immc-
dintely closed down t he Mantauk Point
project.
"Once you close down a construction •
project like the Point it's hard to start it up
agnin. Everybody began wanting their mon-
. ey back. tit Carl had to mortgage this piece
of properly. this polo field, that golf course.
this building'
Everyt hing was going wrong for ('art
Fisher. 'l'he long•awnited Meir the Fisher -
had counted on, ('ail G. Fisher Junior, b.
nnlly arrived. but died alter living only _'ti
days.
Fisher began to drink. Fle was despon•
dent at the death of the son he had longed
for. \\ hen n woman in need prevailed upon
.lame to bring up her three•year-old son in
place of the child the Fishers had post, Jane
felt it was-the•nnswer to their unhappiness.
Hut Carl, involved in the first losing streak
of his meteorie' career• was not '100 interest •
ed. Reluctantly he allowed Jane to adopt•
the child • but on her own.
'The fabled marriage grew steadily
worse. And one dao-. suddenly. Jane Fisher
left for Paris with her lawyer and got n (li-
"1 HE :11 •7'11HIl• Ron Lnytner Is rr Minn?,
free-lance writer and ph itO/ rop!Ier.
nn'I Iii them hit Iltaat nickel pitch no lop up.. n
aanl:e nl pace stun.
Sure. He went with his hest stuff. really hoar' tg
(1 vis with the curve and the ttslball. Pop. I'op. I p.
No choke up juh. No•hitters get busted wide ape in
the :ase two innings. The last six hatters kill you vilh
bun and flukes. you get rattled and take sant hing
off 1 e pitch and whop! There goes a blue :trier
flying ver the right field wall. dtimping your n (tiller'
right i to Bedford Avenue.
In he ninth. though. he walked Ph ps and"
Lavage (2 and ('am illi.' Ileo. boy. Kay. ay hit a
gr.ounde and Phelps was forced at i.he pl te. Then
came Do +cher. Ile got two strike. on 1)ur wher. 1)u-
rocher wa a devil. Really bearing down. e Fired 'one
that went r ••ht by I)urorher. It had two or hree inches
4'1 he plate 1(111 Stewart wn,, the umpire Ernie Lont-
baurdi was th • cat cher.
"hall." ti ewart hollered.
Ile had l+ t the pitch behind aha big blob of .a
Lombardi.
I)urucher ss ung at the nest pile . It popped into
the air and the ccanterfiel(ler caugl t it. Stewart was
the first one out to the mound. Ile .aid: 'If you didn't
get it. I wn. Ill( one who would have blown it for
you."
Swell maul. lite earl. dead no . Rill Klan dead. A
lot of good ones, de d.
ile looked anion 1 the ri>on . Deer head frnphies.
Stuffed pheasant. A sign. 1.)Id Fishermen `ever i)ie.
They Just Smell That Way.
The hats Iron All :'tar ga nes and World Series he
played in nine of the n. 5 gned•with names like I)i-
NInggio and Gehrig. ha rli Keller. Lefty-.(;nnlez, Bill
l liekrv, Jae Gordon. 'Lynn n v 1leinrich. !billy.all(•, Iti(Iling.
(•rosetti...
l
t;iti,:
He rend off the names . loud.
"'They had better pla -e then than now, his wife
..aid. "Everybody on th( tea 1 was g(x>d then."
•'\\ed1, they've got .• tine t passion problems now,"
he chuckled. .
Ile walked over t the e'> ner, looking up at .the
plaques - All Star nations, ne of the first Cincin-
nati Hal! of Fame laqucs, lin. chall's Minor League
Man of the Year ' 1 •:!(i. 2lnjn League Man of the
Year in
The first silye• National Leagu' Award ever given.
"'To .Johnny \'n, ler M('cF.. For 111. Immortal Accom-
plishment
"Babe Rut got the first one the American
League." he sa d.-'•.('ourse. I also led n lases on balls
every year too and he never did that.
"You also ed in strikeouts," his wi . said.
He pick(! through the display ens r full of base-
balls th first one he pitched to P til Wisner at
baseball's .entennial Game. He looked t it, turning
it round- i his big left hand.
"Old ill. Klem was umpiring," he mu, ed. "1 saw
him bake the hall and look it over and then stuff it in
lir por t. 1 pitched out the inning and nfte wards he
stoma: me and in that deep, cultured, seri( us voice
of 'his he said. 'Young man, do you realize t at you
have hrown the first pitch in baseball's Centc
Ile ended it to me, very serious he was, arid he says.
'Yo d better keep this and treasure it.' \Vhat.a g and
mn he was
He picked through the balls no•hitlers,'s set
IC. September 39. 1968
1,,,,SLACK & WHIT
AND COLOR
:WALLET PHOTOS
This new deportr
expressly for moil
advertisers, appe
every week Inc
by writing.
Tropic Moil Bo.
Miami, Florida
ZIP 33101
(Area Code: 305
350-2589
TROPIC
MAIL BO.
• 4 loots you ea sake
ausweriet nail adder
You could be drsappoinled rl yp
include your own name and ad,
proper add(ess' and zip code o
user (keep record of address h
erence). 31 send nght amount
trent tome) wart at least 3 wee
ery With thousands of coupons
our advertisers. even computer
Imes get meed up OK' Man
turns .
It you do not (e(erve you( o•
weeks wide to us tropic M.
Miami Herald 0 1 Herald Plat,
33101
th
N•
ho
'�15:,,t: 1,. t4 r. .. �.•''�'r l�ti-rr:. (:�1'�"t �. i?'r h��;F� r,_� a44w ��•;W`'.'�. �r '1 �,:n`�..,�.
ou didn't get it
s the one
would have
it for you'
ow
I VAND
(Continual
R MEER
he moon. Ev, ',mild like to
tge in the hit, on't see Stan
al taking the j .oesn't take it.
minor leazue me the major
Ie conches. I'lni • pts. Security.
till, he figured v. He had been
ing for Schlitz 1 ae•k in the years
I he was managin. 'Topeka and '1'ul- •
Id Burlington an 'Pampa, he used
, berserk with not the offseason. So
:arted pert -time .. 'Then. five years
he was managing S d that old bugab4°
-ity was hounding hi blitz, wanted him to
over military sales i ',beast.
o he quit baseball. names of the places
me 'Tifton and Augt nd t harlestor
mhia and Key West.
le wasn't sorry. Schlitz s big husiness.sjus;,t,like•
!rill Motors. He liked v ing the bases, checking
istrihution and the co petition, talking sports.
iers. sailors, colonels, ge oral's —.they all liked CO -
sports. They rememb' rd tim, .1ohntii Vander
r. sure. They knew , ic' ev Mantle better, but
.was because ot.tintc, tirewas prirt of the y;nir'te
And Johnny Vander leer was part of the ganlc'.
if you couldn't cha ,e tim
'he front door opened and• 'hirley bounded into
house. chattering...e woul be going off to col -
in the Fall. Then t ere woul be just himself and
home. Hon. boy. 'I ime.
le kneaded his sh ulder. He d a bad headache •
art.
Ie looked around the paneled rc mt. It was a good
t. Just like the st of the hous , it was neat and
n and handso e and 'comfort. Ile. One Z•f the
tiest houses nn. he blocr Out ba k. he had one of
hest azalea het ges in town.
t was a good I' e.
Time: •
teally,thirty ears ago? Whew.
)n the wall: were his guns and fis ing rods and
tues and pie ores and cases of }nisch IIs and racks
ats.
)ne wall w.s nearly covered by an en ?gement of
loto taken during the second no•hitte . It showed
whole fi, d, him on the mount], on v the first
:man ant the right fielder were missint, The park
Ehbets 'ield in Brooklyn. The first nI ,ht game.
e 15, 19 8. He was only n 22.year-old rt ,kir with
cinnati. Four days before he had no -hit tic Boston
T.Jus like that game. the, halls were bei .g hit to
right pots, the fielders had all been in t e right.
-es. Y u had to have that. Just like all t rlther,
hitter he had thrown. he wasn't really got after
it th eighth inning. At the eighth he made ip his
Id h wns going to make them hit the best p esihlc
•h a couhl•throw, When you get that clos gnu
ry gond ball player
leagues. But you
Ib. Sa.uiv Koufnx
ballplayers herr
old dollars and
e had been luc
t years now. 1
in places lik
I'alatka an
'ng to do i
•th Schlit
•rac•use a
and 5
the 5(
d th
sta
tl'
11 A11T11111(' nal ;lorry is a Miami frrr••1n rr•r•
rr n rr, uInr r•nntrihu1or to '/'ropir Mognzinr•.
1
'Carl disregarded • my marriages,
and I disregarded his'
�•'�::cr-
Today, Miami Beoch is an asphalt jungle — just 50 years ago it
woi o real one. This was the beginning of Lincoln Rood in 1919
vorce. Shortly afterwards. Carl G. Fisher
married his stenographer.
But it didn't end there. Though Jane re•
married three more times, she and Carl re-
mained good friends.
"I remarried but we always had the
most marvelous friendship. Whenever he
wvas where he could come to see me, he did.
And when he. was not well many times in
his later years 1 would go and see him. He
disregarded my marriages and I disregarded
his marital status. Ile bossed me 'til the
day he died..
Grieved at the loss of his golden touch
in his last years the .great developer traded
off most of his last holdings for a small
weekly income for life. When the end came
in 1939 Jane was not at his side.
At the time of Carl's depth she was liv-
ing in tipper New York State on 0 240 -acre
mountain -top estate. She vainly tried to
rent a plane or get an airline connection to
Miami in those early days' of flying. But
she.arrived too late. The funeral was over..
In later years, after four marriages, resi-
dence in Europe and delvings in business,
dant Fisher's investments began to,go bad..
In one of her last dealings she traded a
'block of property in the Lincoln Road area
for the Queen Elizabeth,• a 52 -unit apart-
ment -hotel.
"i had a secure income but the govern-
ment took about n third of it. 1 had a very
good manager at the hotel, but when 1 sold
it he left. 'Then 1. wns forced to take it hack
because the new owners couldn't make the
payments..
TROPIC, September 29, 1968
.c •
•I put my adopted son in as:Manager
and he didn't 'do so well: the taxes weren't
being paid and the bills kept mounting. i
had three heart attacks within a 'week at
that time and 1 couldn't help.
"Anti so I lost it. The hank came in on a
Wednesday, morning and took the hotel
away. 1 lost everything.. I had just three dol-
lars in my purse because I never carried
money. I paid everything by check. The
government stepped in and took over my
bank accounts and padlocked illy office. I
was penniless.
"But it's funny how things come back to
help you.'•When i was wealthy and money
was unimportant, 1 loaned a wornan about
$35,000 to help her throogh a very had time
and avoid serious trouble. '
"'That woman is so 'important to me
now. Site sends me $(() each week and has
done so for several years. She helped me
live..1 was not well enough to get a ;job:
Then my real friends came to the fore:
. "My distress was common. talk at the
time. One of -them could have come to me .
and said '•Jane,•could 1 let you have a thou-
sand dollars?', something I had done so
very many times for•pcople who were in .•
trouble or in need. •
"Not one of them came to mc. But I '
don't. .hold it against them. It's so easy
when you• have no problems not -to recog-
nize those of others. They just didn't y
think. . •
"It was heart-warming to rite where the
assistance did come from. It wasn't front
tny'society friends. •
"I knew one wealthy man. My liusbnhd
had made him a millionaire. He could have
helped me. It wouldn't have been n button
continued on -1 age !V
'The people are
being cheated'
FISHER
'..ntrnurd ! 1iq:.. V
oft his vest. But I didn't ask him I'm
very proud.
"One kind friend gave me :I little boat-
house on her property in which to live.
staved six months until I found a house.
'•1 had to borrow $2.111)1) for the (down
payment. I went to throe or four people and
to a man I knew then only very casually.:!
very nice man. a doctor.
••l'll never target it. Ile took out his
checkbook and asked if $r).000 would be
enough. 1 said it would he ample and I paid
him back within three nears with inter•
est.
'.It's funny now, but the average person
thinks I'm (Pffte a wealthy woman. ,Let
theta think that. This is the only piece of
property I own. 11 takes five minutes to cul -
my grass. A friend comes and tuts it' for me
every weak. ,•
"I'm still'asked all the time to conlrib•
ate to (,irittes. I'm always sent invitations
to panic.. I had one in the mail today
$12.:0 a plate and 1'11 have 10 buy a ticket
hrr att•t'scort. I.4140 afford it:"
tries esop4bitn-g her life and loves. Jane
says:
"I'm like::the 4)1(1 woman who -said: '1
ain't goin to Ileovin wonderin.' I've had my
share of attention: I've had lots of beaus.
Tots Of men friends.
"They've been marvelous wonderful'
I love to dance. I've always been a good
dancer. '!'hat's my only regret now. I went
to a party last night and the music was
simply tnarvelous.and 1 had to sit there. 1
didn't like that."'
According to Jane Fisher Miami Reach
hasn't turned out as Carl would have want •
(•(1.
••I4eally sort of resent the Lincoln Road .
Mall. It's beautiful but I doubt if it's served
the purpose it was meant for. It was won•
derful in the old days. Everyone had their
l'adillacs and Lincolns and Rolls•Rovices.
We'd drive up to the shop's and see every•
one we knew. It's a different Lincoln Road
now with different people. •
"Of course I think it's a wonderful place
for the senior citizens to sit and watch the
crowds go by. Rut it's lost its elegance. 1.
wouldn't say it's a tourist trap. It's just
that people come down in bathing suits and
odd attire."
in criticizing Miami Beach's progress.
.lane says: "I think the high rises are the
biggest change we've had in the Inst ten
years. I call them minsters. t dislike them
intensely. •
The people of Miami Beach are being
cheated. 'there was a day when we could go
for a drive down Collins Avenue for miles
and see the ocean at all times. `ow we just
glimpse it occasionally. And they're even
IROVIC., S.pae'b.r 79, '968
Introducing ti,
ew ri
C
The grin comes from witl
Ovaltine.Tastes so good goin
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National Football League.
'As long as I live, his name
shall live on'
IEContinued
FISHER
building high rises on both sides of Collins
Avenue. Soon, it'll be like a cavern — an
alleyway that we go through.
"There is such an influx of new people.
Three quarters of the people here today
don't know the name of Cart G. Fisher.
They've done almost nothing to perpetuate
the name. Only by public subscription did
they build a monument on Alton Road and
50th Street.
"I'm the only one who has kept Carl'r
name alive. 'That's the reason 1 speak bt!-
fore clubs. I'm determined that as long as I
live, his name shall live on.
"Without Carl there never would have
been a Miami Beach. The other people
didn't. have the money to huild the projects
. and attract the people of great wealth to
,build the big hotels.
"They've done a lot for others. In later
years Arthur Godfrey did a good job of pro-.
moting Miami Beach and they named a
fine street for him. He deserved 'it. But
withbut my husband there never would
have been a Miami. Beach to publicize.
:'Carl never named a street after him-
self. He usually named them after his
friends. Chase Avenue was named for Pete
Chase, our head salesman. John Oliver
LaGorce was a dear friend, so Carl named
LaGorce Island and Drive for him.
"'There is only one thing in Miami
Beach named for Carl and that's a little
branch post office down on West Avenue.
Dr. LaGorce and I cut the ribbons for the
opening of it.
"My husband greatly admired Henry
Flagler. So he pumped out an island and
erect that monument to Henry Flagler in
Biscayne Bay. Carl spent SI50,I)00 on the
monument and the city doesn't even keep it
up. It makes me so mad every time 1 go by
it and see the weeds and garbage. -
It was getting late. The sun was begin-
ning to drop behind the causeways. The big,
hotels, banks and apartment buildings that,
have sprung up on the near•pricelcss Iand,
of Miami Beach mirrored the golden sunset.
On Sheridan Avenue, a snarling bum-
per -to -pumper traffic line was forming.
The old lady's eyes clouded over for a
moment as she heard the noise. Her dog
huddled closer. .
Carl Fisher was o brilliant, errotic
and domineering man. Even though
he and lane were divorced for many
years, she admits, "he bossed me 'til
the day he died"
•
"Miami Beach is growing into a big..
ugly city," she complained. "I don't think
it's what Carl would have wanted. The peo•
sple nowadays desecrate its beauty.
-'1 love flowers and trees so much that it
just tears my heart out when I see bull•doz•
ers going into vacant lots and just ripping
out great trees with no regard for them.
was here when those trees were planted.
can almost hear them cry.
•
"! know it hurts them I wish I could
do. 0
something."
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