A Time in Ybor City

About the Book

An extraordinarily beautiful mixed-race woman travels through the 1930s from the Prohibition era to the dawn of World War II, moving from domestic servant to mistress of a wealthy industrialist and on to a loving relationship with maestro George Gershwin while he completes the operatic masterpiece “Porgy and Bess.” Filled with the history of Tampa’s exotic Ybor City, the home of Cuban culture in America, readers are introduced to the place and the people that produced legendary handmade clear Havana cigars for a half century. The novel also provides a perspective on the awakening of America’s sexuality, glamorous old Havana, the post-Prohibition rise of organized crime and the historic uncertainties of Cuban-American relations.

About the Author

After a teaching, administrative, and grant-writing career spanning more than four decades that included positions at the New York City College of Technology (CUNY), Fairleigh Dickenson University, Empire State College (SUNY), Mercy College, and Ramapo College of New Jersey, Ron Kase now writes daily. His recent regional history books, Bill Miller’s Riviera (with Tom Austin) and New Jersey Meadowlands (with Robert Ceberio), were favorably reviewed and enjoyed brisk sales. His earlier novels, Fiddler’s elbow, Fiddler’s Revenge, and the compilation Fiddler’s Return, developed a cadre of loyal readers. The novels were optioned for motion pictures. As a sociologist, Dr. Kase is intrigued with the national political process and the influence of religion on elections, which is contrary to the Constitutional guarantee of the separation of church and state, in which the state is protected from religion. He also believes that the second amendment clearly does not guarantee anyone the right to be armed except for “members of a well ordered militia.” Ron Kase’s new writing project retells the tragic real-life tale of the 1957 murder in Ramsey, New Jersey, of a fifteen-year-old cheerleader and honor student by the psychopathic killer Edgar Smith, who is serving a life term in a California prison. Coauthor attorney Anthony Iannarelli has carefully researched the case along with the amazing events that allowed a convicted murderer to go free, write books, and go on a two-year university speaking tour all with the help of William F. Buckley, editor of the National Review. The story is ready to be exposed again as one of the most serious perversions of our justice system. ronkase@rocketmail.com