About Coconut Grove Chronicles by Matthew Bamberg:
“The Grove was more than a village; it was a state of mind where the tropical sunshine met a counterculture upheaval.”
Spanning the bohemian pulse of Florida’s transformative 1960s and 70s, Miami’s oldest community was a sultry sanctuary for artists, rebels, and pleasure seekers. In Coconut Grove Chronicles, author and photographer Matthew Bamberg captures the vibe of an era that defined a generation, blending raw reality with a fictional narrative of paradoxes.
Beginning his working life in the gritty heart of a neighborhood head shop, salesboy Marvin was quickly schooled in the underground scene. Reaching inside glittering glass showcases to hawk glass hash pipes and sterling coke spoons, he detailed the paraphernalia like an underground physician’s desk reference. Simultaneously, his interest led him deep into the sciences—a paradox that posed profound identity challenges.
When his friendship with a charismatic Cuban girl leads him into the eye of a hurricane, it takes an unlikely alliance between his best friend and his mother—two women from vastly different worlds—to pull him back from the brink and save his future.
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Author Bio:
Matthew Bamberg Biography
Matthew Bamberg is a generalist, covering a variety of topics in photography, writing, education, and atmospheric science.
He considers knowledge in terms of art by including images as part of each discipline.
Matthew grew up in Miami after his parents immigrated from New York and New Jersey.
flower power
Flower Power 1960s theme. Photo by Matthew Bamberg
As a teenager, Bamberg worked in Coconut Grove, Florida, in sales, not as a picture-perfect young person, but as an incipient flower child.
The Vietnam War raged at a time when the first boats and planes arrived in South Florida from Cuba when Fidel Castro overthrew the government.
Hippies clogged Miami area parks, creating crowds at “Love Ins.”
Their message and chant: “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
Matthew Bamberg as a Meteorologist
As a young person, Matthew Bamberg became enamored with meteorology. His work in that field began with working as part of the FACE (FloridaArea Cumulus Experiment) team for the National Weather Service.
Cesna 130 aircraft was used for cloud-seeding missions in Florida in the 1970s.
Bamberg flew in a Cessna 130, taking photos of passes before and after entering South Florida thunderstorms. Photo by Rachel Claire Pexels
One of Bamberg’s roles was a flight observer, flying as part of a Cessna 130 aircraft crew, shooting images of a threatening cumulus cloud before and after silver iodide was dumped into it.
The purpose of throwing the chemical into an incipient thunderstorm was to make it release more rain.
This experience he will never forget.
He went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Matthew Bamberg as an Artist
TWA terminal at dusk, a classic mid-century modern structure at JFK Airport. Photo by Matthew Bamberg.
A formal career in the arts began when he was a graduate student at San Francisco State University in 1992 while still teaching.
His work in the visual and media arts included video production and software applications associated with digital art. He completed his Master of Arts in Creative Arts in 1997.
In 2002, after photographing, printing, and framing his photos of world architectural landmarks, Bamberg contacted local vintage modern stores In Palm Springs and Los Angeles to consign his photos.
Pictured above is the TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in New York City, the hottest spot in The Big Apple for amazing man-made structures. No corners in that place.
Sign Collage is based on the work of Piet Mondrian, a painter whose use of lines, rectangles, and color. Photography collage by Matthew Bamberg
Matthew’s venture into selling photography proved successful, as his sales were brisk. Hard to believe that his best sellers were mid-century neon motel signs.
Matthew Bamberg as an Educator
After a 14-year stint as a classroom teacher in the California public school system, Matthew went on to work in education as an online adjunct professor.
In recent years, this professor has found that the content of the courses contains what some officials in the United States refer to as a definition of WOKE, which encompasses negative misinformation about concepts of Critical Race Theory.
Political controversy in education is not kept silent in the courses Matthew Bamberg has taught, as it would minimize important curriculum vital to the diverse population of California students’ academic and social success.
The challenging task of integrating social justice principles and social-emotional learning into the academic curricula has been the major focus of the research-based study proposals in which Matthew’s critical thinking and first and second-language methodology students engage.
The essence of education, reading, writing, speaking, and listening, is for each socioeconomically challenged group to rise against oppressive situations.
By taking peaceful action using skilled communication methods, any one of us can adopt the characteristics of intelligence, self-confidence, and determination, as Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, and Harvey Milk have.
Matthew Bamberg as a Writer
Matthew juggled online teaching, writing articles for local publications, and then authoring books. In addition to teaching at several universities online, he became a feature writer and columnist for local newspapers and magazines in Palm Springs.
In the early 2000s, he wrote articles for the Desert Sun and Palm Springs Life about the popular world-famous destination for mid-century modern architecture.
The editors with whom he worked considered themselves generalists. Soon, he became one, too, writing spiritual profiles about local religious institutions and a travel column entitled “One Tank Trips.” His photography occasionally appeared in the articles.
He went on to write photography how-to books based on his experiences selling images, not only in stores but also online.
His first book, Digital Art Photography for Dummies, reported on the process of shooting and creating framed photos for sale. It was published by Wiley in 2005.
During the following 10 years, Bamberg authored 11 more how-to photography and technology books for Cengage Learning while teaching online.
Matthew Bamberg is grateful for all his opportunities in writing, photography, and education. He has worked with many talented people in each of these areas, experienced, skilled professionals who have guided him to strive for excellence in all three disciplines.