LATE LEGENDARY 'CAPTAIN TONY' HONORED IN KEY WEST

KEY WEST, Florida Keys -- A Key West legend was honored Saturday when approximately 500 people gathered for a parade and street party celebrating the life of the late Anthony "Captain Tony" Tarracino.

Tarracino, who died Nov. 1 at age 92, came to Key West from New Jersey in 1948 with $18 in his pocket. Ten years later he purchased a bar on Greene Street and changed its name to Captain Tony's Saloon.

A former charter boat captain, gambler and reputed gunrunner, Tarracino served as mayor of Key West from 1989 to 1991. Though he sold his bar in 1989, he remained a public figure who often stopped by to greet patrons.

"Captain Tony was a quintessential character in Key West," said parade organizer Peter Anderson, secretary general of the Keys' Conch Republic. "All you have to do is look around you this afternoon to realize how totally loved he was by this community - he was really the heart and soul of Key West."

"Captain Tony's" colorful life included marrying four times and fathering 13 children. His exploits were recounted in a film titled "The Cuba Crossing," starring Stuart Whitman as the captain, and in the song "Last Mango in Paris" by entertainer Jimmy Buffett, a longtime friend.

As well as Tarracino's widow Marty, family members on hand to remember him included daughter Toni Tarracino, known as "Little Toni."

"I am sure my father is enjoying this," said Toni Tarracino of the afternoon's gathering. "This is absolutely what he would have wanted and I'm sure he's here in spirit."

The parade and gathering followed a funeral mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Key West. Parade participants, who traveled from the church down Duval Street to Captain Tony's Saloon, included musicians, local dignitaries, friends of Tarracino and admirers of his exuberant lifestyle.

The late captain himself was represented by a life-size photographic cutout surrounded by Conch Republic flags. The street gathering honored him with cannon fire, a 21-gun salute and a dove release overseen by Marty Tarracino and several of his children.

"Captain Tony has been a legend in his own mind for a long time and in ours just as long," said Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson. "What a life -- 92 years is a full life."