The book about Negril's formative tourism years circa 1973, Banana Shout, is now available across the island of Jamaica! There are several shops in Negril to purchase it, and if you contact the author, Mark Conklin at Banana Shout he will be happy to sign the book for you! Yah mon! The following is an excerpt from the book where our hero, Tavo Grips has just arrived in Negril for the first time thanks to his new friend, Striker! Enjoy! Note: Today's Negril Today shows the long since closed Wharf Club as it looks today.
"As Striker eased his old scow
of a boat through the pink, purple, and golden coral heads, fish
leaped out of the waters and soared with wings over the mirror-like
ocean. Other schools of rainbow-colored fish played below the
bow, as visible as if he was seeing them through an aquarium glass.
Striker moored the boat against a concrete dock on the shore of
an Amazon-like river that appeared from nowhere. It seemed to
run from the jungle mountains beyond, and dump its brownish peat-colored
fresh water into the sea at one end of the beach.
Across from this dock was a dilapidated cement block structure,
peeling white paint, with a corrugated rusted zinc roof. The name
Wharf Club, Willie's disciplined bar, Negril, Jamaica, and a sailfish
were painted in fading red and
blue paint on its front. A pulsating beat throbbed through open
front doors, breaking the stillness of the hot, sweltering day.
The Wharf Club stood out on the exquisite landscape like a festering
zit on the nose of a Miss America contestant. Not even the palm
trees, they're rustling fronds framing either side of this shack,
made up for its ugliness.
He had no idea then, that this disciplined bar was anything but
disciplined. It sure looked wilder than the saloons of Dodge City.
By now, Striker was more than ready to abandon his human cargo
for another, much more profitable one. When all was said, Striker
was a jolly sort of rough modern-day pirate, who'd been pretty
kind to him. But more than that he'd delivered him unwittingly
from a death sentence. In a round about way he ended up just where
he wanted to be. Striker told Tavo that a few fishing and goat-farming
families lived on the beach and in the red hills behind the Wharf
Club. He could find a place to sleep on one of their shack floors
for about fifty cents a night. He suggested the Albert family
on the beach or the Conwells on the cliffs, then said so-long,
he was on his own now.
He set out on foot immediately to explore his new home with an
enthusiasm he'd never experienced in his life, while Striker made
straight for the bar and an iced cold Red Stripe beer."
Daily Music News: The Negril Entertainment Network will be on break as a tropical depression hangs over the island bringing us some much needed live giving rain but causing problems with the phonelines! The next scheduled webcast is on Wednesday from Fun Holiday and Roots Bamboo from noon and 9pm respectively! Check back here and on the Negril Message Board for the latest information about joining the live webcast and chat in the Negril Chat Room and being a part of the NEN. The information will be posted on Negril Message Board before the next event! To make it to the Negril Message Board click on the Main Menu above or below and then look for the Negril Message Board link!
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