Is Monkey The Real Power Behind The Scenes In North Miami?

Monkey has really become a community activist ever since that day a couple of years back when James Mitchell was in town and he insisted that we take Monkey with us to Starbucks. He said that Monkey needed to do some LIVING before he got too old. He was about 60 at the time.Since then I've taken him with me all over town and photographed him with lots of people. He ended up making two trips out to San Francisco visiting photographers who'd been following his adventures.

On one of his trips out west he came back with a young girlfriend, Monkette, and that girl likes to PARTY! She's always getting me to take her to luncheons and dinners, and after enough bitching on her part they usually offer a fresh fruit platter as part of the munchies being served.

Monkey was content to sit home in his chair. Monkette got active in the mayor's reelection campaign, and she was successful in getting him elected to another two years in the mayor's seat. Suddenly other people were willing to admit that they still had their childhood stuffed toy animals. You started to see them in homes and offices, no longer hiding in a closet someplace. Penny Valentine's toy floppy dog is always draped over the back of a chair next to her desk at the Greater North Miami Chamber of Commerce. Monkey has a new spark in him these days, wanting to go out and socialize more now that the stigma of being somebody's toy animal is gone. Now he's not afraid to discuss politics in public. Here he is with Penny's dog chatting about the presidential primaries. No more hiding in the shadows, slinking around town. And Monkette? She was checking out the big sale at Walmart then heading over to Costco on the way back. Girls will be girls...