Gaspar Returns

Gaspar Returns be the story of the dramatic return of the famous pirate Jose Gaspar.  Later know as Gasparilla, he be born near Seville, Spain in 1756 n’ be reported to be “small in body, but imbued with the stamina of a Spanish fighting bull, the courage of a cornered leopard, n’ the cunning of a black fox.  He was kind to his friends, dangerous to his enemies, n’ alway true to his work.”

Stories about Jose Gaspar are varied from the time he, at he age of 12, kidnapped a neighbor’s daughter n’ tried to collect a ransom, to his promotion at age 26 to the rank of Admiral of the Middle Atlantic Squadron, his subsequent betrayal by the King of Spain, his war against Spanish holdings for 26 years, n’ his reported suicide when he was about to be captured.  Gaspar had been “a Spanish officer of high rank, a pirate, a seducer of countless women, a wholesale murderer of human souls, and the last, and perhaps greatest of all the pirates who operated in the 1880’s”  Jose Gaspar, in fact, may have had much to do with Florida’s becoming a part of the Union, for if he had not settled on its West coast and become a major pin to Spanish commerce with Cuba n’ Mexico, Spain might have been less willing to sell Florida to the United States.  

Gaspar returns to the world of the 90’s, to traffic jams, semi organized strip clubs, fax machines, fast food restaurants, jet planes, speed boats, and sophisticated bank n’ security systems.  He learns the habits of the 1990’s quickly n’ builds a following through charisma and cunnning.  Jack Medford, a Tampa journalist, becomes a friend to Gaspar n’ learns of another side to the legendary pirate.  The story of Gaspar, on which Tampa Bay’s renowned Gaparilla celebration was originally based, n’ his return to our time is one that makes you turn the pages with anticipation until it’s exciting finish.

Dr. Robert A. Norman be the author of this fiction book about the mythical pirate who Gasparilla be based on.  He is a Tampa based dermatologist with a creative sense of imagination.

Softback, 213 Pages, 8.8×5.5 inches