Paul Jaime Dosal’s Tampa en Martí (2010) is soon to be published by Vigía Publishers in Matanzas, Cuba, and will be presented as part of the celebrations for the publishing house’s 25th anniversary this month.

This bilingual edition focuses on the presence of José Martí, Cuba’s national hero, in Tampa, Florida, and includes 16 unpublished photographs of his meetings with workers in the tobacco industry and cigar makers in Tampa. There are also photos of labels from cigar boxes of the time and mambí documents that attest to Martí’s presence there.  

A striking feature of this book is that its design will include tobacco leaves from the Alejandro Robaina tobacco plantation, the best tobacco producer in Cuba. Vigía’s director, Agustina Ponce, says that thanks to the collaboration of the Cuban Artist Artisans Association (ACAA in Spanish), Robaina offered the tobacco leaves grown on his land for this purpose. Designed by Rolando Estévez, the volumen will include materials like yagua (part of a palm tree), the tobacco leaves, and hand-made paper made with habano tobacco by artisan Jorge Félix Castillo.

Paul Jaime Dosal holds a PhD in Latin American history from Tulane University. He is professor of history at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. Dosal has written extensively on Latin America and the Caribbean and is the author of books such as Comandante Che: Guerrilla Soldier, Commander, and Strategist, 1956-1967 (2003) and Cuba Libre: A Brief History of Cuba (2005).

For full article (in Spanish), see http://www.giron.co.cu/Articulo.aspx?Idn=4040&&lang=es

For full article (in English), see http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2010/03/31/20889/tampa_en_marti_will_include_tobacco_leaves_robaina_tobacco_plantation.html