Mark and Nancy’s dog Elly at home. Photo by Mark Hedden
In the wake of closing galleries and public spaces due to the coronavirus, The Studios of Key West has taken its programming online offering a wide range of innovative classes and programs, from showcasing exhibitions via Facebook Live for its popular First Thursday reception to offering drawing, photography, writing and other classes virtually. Check out all of the current class offerings at tskw.org.
As part of this lineup, local well-read power couple Mark Hedden and Nancy Klingener are offering a look at the history of Key West through literature, reading TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT by Ernest Hemingway, selections from Elizabeth Bishop, 92 IN THE SHADE by Thomas McGuane, KEY WEST TALES by John Hersey and THE JEWS OF KEY WEST by Arlo Haskell. Nancy Klingener covers the Florida Keys for WLRN. Mark Hedden is a writer, photographer, and birding guide.
We had the opportunity to ask them about the virtual book club and other matters literary.
Q: How and why did you decide to do a Key West book club? How did you choose titles?
A: We started it back in 2013 when Nan was working at the Key West Library and Mark had a studio at the Studios (as he still does) – it seemed like a cool opportunity to do something in between a book club and a college course. So there is a syllabus, of sorts, and we moderate or lead the discussions but there’s no homework or grades.
We have chosen a variety of books from different writers – not always our personal favorites but ones we thought directly addressed Key West (TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT) or might be fun to read. In the past we’ve included some crime fiction (by Laurence Shames and James W. Hall) and some historical accounts. It’s fun, for us at least, to mix it up a little.
Q: How is it similar or different hosting the book club on Zoom?
A: It feels very different but has been pretty glitch-free so far. It’s great that we can connect this way both with people in town and those from the mainland who are interested in these books.
It does make it harder to share a bottle of wine like we used to.
Q: What advice would you give prospective hosts about managing a book club, on Zoom or otherwise?
A: It helps to have someone like Michelle from the Studios managing the technicalities so you can focus on the content. And maybe to try and be aware of who might have some difficulties connecting or accessing material so you can make sure they get everything they need BEFORE the meeting.
In general don’t make it too big – I think our class size of 12 is just about right. And try to choose a variety of books so that there’s something for everyone. And try to make sure everyone has a chance to speak and be involved.
Q: What’s your favorite Key West book, and why?
Nan: My favorite writing about Key West is by Elizabeth Bishop – her poems, letters and essays about this place show that she really got it and appreciated its endemic weirdness. I’m also fond of John Hersey’s KEY WEST TALES, which capture a lot of different angles of the island.
Mark: My favorite Key West book is PANAMA by Tom McGuane, which is about a failed and lovelorn former rock star trying to figure out how to live with himself. I feel like it really captures an era, albeit an era ten years before I moved here. But my second favorite book about Key West is 92 IN THE SHADE which I’d argue is less about character and more about Key West and America and the counterculture of the time. And fishing, which I like reading about more than I like doing. Both of McGuane’s books couldn’t be set anywhere else.
Q: Outside of your book club reading, what are you reading and recommending these days?
Nan: I’m (very, very slowly) making my way through THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT, the final book in Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about Thomas Cromwell. Time and focus are in short supply for me, but even though I’m usually a fast reader who would devour a book like that, I like savoring it – it’s an excellent respite from current events and the last book from her on that subject (I’ve been obsessed with the Tudors since I was a kid and read a book about Elizabeth I at my grandparents’ house). And I have a stack of books I got out of the library before they closed so my TBR pile is, as usual, enormous. And I can’t wait to dive into the new Lily King novel, WRITERS & LOVERS. Her novel EUPHORIA is one of my favorite reads of recent years.
Mark: I’m working my way through Michael Reynolds’ five-volume Hemingway biography, because, honestly, I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about him and his legacy — something we’re confronted with pretty regularly on this tiny island. I’m also reading Charles Willeford’s Hoke Mosely quartet, detective novels set in the rough-and-tumble world of 70s and 80s Miami. And I’m reading a bunch of stuff about sharks. I’m also listening to some books on tape while doing some home improvement. Michael Connelly’s the THE LINCOLN LAWYER has such deftly realized character studies, as does Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series, which makes sense once you realize that Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling.