KEYS WEEKLY SCORES SOME BIG-NAME INTERVIEWS IN 2021

The Keys Weekly had no shortage of interviews with some big-timers. Here are a few of the heavy hitters staff had the chance to speak to in 2021. 

Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez: Florida’s second-in-charge, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, spoke with Upper Keys Weekly Editor Jim McCarthy in May about an election bill and recent COVID actions, which included invalidating mandates imposed by local governments. As for the state session, Nuñez called it “strange” because people weren’t allowed inside the capitol building due to COVID. “As we get more and more vaccinated, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t say ‘Get vaccinated, do your part, be a good American, but oh, it doesn’t really work so you have to keep your mask on and keep your distance and still have people shut out of business,’” she said. Nuñez, who enjoys downtime in Islamorada, stopped by to participate in the Memorial Day ceremony. 

Derek Trucks and his wife and co-star Sue Tedeschi perform at the Key West Amphitheater in 2021. LARRY BLACKBURN/Keys Weekly

Derek Trucks of Tedeschi Trucks: Guitar legend Derek Trucks, a well-publicized child prodigy who joined his uncle Butch’s famed band, The Allman Brothers, in 1999, has toured or played alongside legends throughout his career — B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh, Eric Clapton and Stephen Stills. And yet perhaps the greatest talent to perform with Trucks has been his wife, Susan Tedeschi. Together, the famed pair created The Tedeschi Trucks Band in 2010. 

Trucks joined Key West Weekly’s Britt Myers on the Florida Keys Weekly Podcast in November 2021 before the duo’s show at Key West’s Coffee Butler Amphitheater.


In the picture, Pan Am employee Sherry Chandler poses with sports icon Muhammed Ali back in the day. CONTRIBUTED

Pan Am reunion: Keys Weekly Senior Staff Writer Charlotte Twine joined a reunion among former Pan Am employees in Tavernier in June. Since 2013, Tavernier resident Hedy Menendez has been organizing an annual National/Pan Am reunion in the Florida Keys for about 40 to 90 friends. “It’s my great joy being able to bring everyone together,” she told Keys Weekly.

The location is fitting, since the birthplace of Pan Am was in the Keys — Key West, to be exact. 

Billy Rosenbalm, who flew for Pan Am from 1977 to 1991, said his appointed maximum weight was 155 pounds. “And I was always 165,” he said, laughing. “They told me to jog around before I weighed myself.” 


Former MLB first baseman and Gold Medal winner Doug Mientkiewicz. DOUG FINGER/Keys Weekl

Doug Mientkiewicz: Upper Keys Weekly Editor Jim McCarthy had the chance to meet up with former major league first baseman, now Islamorada resident and captain, Doug Mientkiewicz in February. He remembers the days riding with his dad to his office next to the Tom Thumb in Key Largo. Stuck in the tape player was Kenny Rogers, and on would come “The Gambler.”

Mientkiewicz hasn’t forgotten a key line in the song that his dad would emphasize: “If you’re gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right.” Today, Mientkiewicz spends time on his 45-foot Seahunter chasing sailfish alongside his co-captain Willie Nelson (the dog, not the musician), girlfriend Madison Wright and fellow fishers. He’s also starting his charter business, Olympic Gold Fishing — the name stemming from the gold medal he won with the USA baseball team during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney


Keys Weekly joins Fabien Cousteau to remove marine debris in the Florida Keys and to talk about the future of the oceans. TIFFANY DUONG/Keys Weekly

Fabian Cousteau: Keys Weekly’s Tiffany Duong joined Fabien Cousteau in May to remove marine debris in the Florida Keys and to talk about the future of the oceans. The grandson of famed underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, he builds upon the family legacy in ocean exploration and conservation with local efforts and initiatives like the cleanup dives that brought him to the Florida Keys. “We’re all responsible for what we see today, so the solution isn’t from one source like myself or an individual doing their best, it’s all of us pitching in,” he said. 


Sylvia Earle & Mireya Mayor: Keys Weekly’s Tiffany Duong sat down with Sylvia Earle and Mireya Mayor in November to share their insights from lives lived in the field as well as their hope and advice for the Florida Keys. Sylvia Earle, famed oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer in Residence, is better known as “Her Deepness.” The living legend has led hundreds of research expeditions and spent more than 7,000 hours underwater. She was also NOAA’s first female chief scientist. Mireya Mayor, the terrestrial counterpart lovingly called “Her Wildness,” is also no stranger to exploration. A primatologist and explorer, she co-discovered the world’s smallest primate: a species of mouse lemur in Madagascar. She served as National Geographic’s first female and first female Hispanic wildlife correspondent. CONTRIBUTED 


Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas joined Key West Weekly’s Britt Myers on the Florida Keys Weekly Podcast in November. JACKIE LEE YOUNG/Contributed

Black Pumas: The huge Grammy-winning duo who played at President Barack Obama’s inauguration christened the newly improved Parade Grounds at Key West’s Civil War-era Fort East Martello in early December as part of the COAST is Clear Music & Arts Festival.

But before they came to Key West, Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada joined Key West Weekly’s own Britt Myers on The Florida Keys Weekly Podcast. The interview also appeared in our print edition and online at keysweekly.com.


Brian ‘BK’ Kelley released a solo album and spent time with the Keys Weekly. BEN CHRISTENSEN/Contributed

Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line: Country music superstar Brian “BK” Kelley, “the Florida half” of top-selling country duo Florida Georgia Line, released his first solo album, “Sunshine State of Mind” in 2021.  Three or four of the songs were recorded in Key West at Jimmy Buffett’s Shrimp Boat Sound studio along Key West Harbor and Kelley joined Key West Editor Mandy Miles for an interview in July.

Kelley and friends had a big time while “working” in Key West: fishing, writing songs, drinking, recording songs, fishing, drinking, writing songs. And there are plenty of recognizable Keys references in the songs, including Hemingway, Key lime pie and a shout-out to Shrimp Boat Sound. 


John Waters brought his one-man holiday comedy show to Key West Theater in December. GREG GORMAN/Contributed

John Waters: Filmmaker, comedian, author and proud bearer of the moniker “Pope of Trash” brought his one-man Christmas comedy show to Key West Theater in December. But before that, he spent some hilariously charming time with Key West Weekly Editor Mandy Miles. 


Lee Brice: Country music superstar Lee Brice played a show at Hawks Cay this spring after packing the Key West Amphitheater in 2019. Brice spoke with Key West Weekly’s Britt Myers to talk about his friend, Key West music man Nick Norman, whom Brice signed to his Pump House Records label this year.  


GOP Whip Steve Scalise: Republican U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisian, who is also the U.S. House minority whip, visited Key West in June with U.S. Congressman Carlos Gimenez, who represents the Keys and Florida’s 26th Congressional District.

During his stay, the Key West Weekly’s Britt Myers caught up with Scalise, who fielded questions about some of the nation’s most contentious issues. From his recent opposition to a formal inquiry on the Capitol riots, to his remarkable recovery following the 2017 shootings at a congressional baseball game, Scalise offered us full access on a range of topics.