23TH April 2020

Adventure - Cuba - Culture - Geopolitical - Timeless - Timely

Back to Havana – wrapping up

So that was 32,000 words about visiting Havana, for those that may not have seen it yet. The Table of Contents is here, BTW.

In the time I was there, I met a lot of memorable people. I also learned a lot of the amazing history of the Island; some from my friend and partner John Caulfield, some from the seminal book Havana Nocturna, and plenty from just casually observing the place that hasn’t changed much in 60 years. It is as close to the “Land that Time Forgot” as anything I have ever visited.

The idea for time travel came from a lunch at 304 O’Reilly. While everyone at the table wanted to imagine what the future of Cuba held, we all agreed that it would be much more fun to revisit what it was like in the 50’s. Thankfully, with Corona, I had some time to dust off the story (which is still a bit dirty around the edges) and put it out there.

A note about the wonderful illustrations by Ermitas Blanco and Gabo Pere.While I conceived the scenes, they made them come to life. They did so having never seen the characters or known the history of the story we created .They rarely had wifi. But in a tribute to the resourcefulness that many Cubans share, they continued to pump out work- and still do.

I’m not sure what the future of Back to Havana holds. Maybe a comic, maybe something for VR. I’m open to whatever.