2024 HONOREES
BRAD MELTZER – named as one of Hollywood Reporter’s “25 Most Powerful Authors” in 2014 alongside such literary titans Lauren Hilenbrand, Stephen King, and George R.R. Martin – is the Emmy-nominated, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod and 12 other bestselling thrillers. He also writes nonfiction books, including The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill and the Ordinary People Change the World kids’ book series, which inspired the PBS KIDS television show Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. He is also one of the only authors to have his books appear on bestseller lists for fiction, nonfiction, advice, children’s books, and comic books, the latter genre bringing him a prestigious Eisner Award.
Meltzer is the host of Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel, and is responsible for helping find the missing 9/11 flag, a discovery documented on his show Brad Meltzer’s Lost History. His recent commencement address at the University of Michigan has been called “one of the best of all time.”
PATTI SMITH’s extensive achievements as an author, performer, and recording and visual artist are acknowledged worldwide.
Released in 1975, Smith’s first recording, Horses, was inducted into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in 2010. Her subsequent albums include Radio Ethiopia; Easter, which features Because the Night, written with Bruce Springsteen; Wave; Dream of Life, which includes People Have the Power, written with her late husband, Fred Sonic Smith; Gone Again; Peace and Noise; Gung Ho; Trampin’; Land; Twelve; Banga; and Outside Society. She is a four-time Grammy Award nominee, a Golden Globe nominee for the song “Mercy Is,” and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Smith received the prestigious National Book Award in 2010 for her bestselling memoir, Just Kids, which chronicles her deep friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and the evolution of their work. Her other books include Witt, Babel, Woolgathering, The Coral Sea, Auguries of Innocence, Collected Lyrics, M Train, Devotion, and Year of the Monkey. Her most recent book, A Book of Days, which features 365 images and reflections, was published in 2022. Her photographs, drawings, and installations have been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide.
Smith’s received a 2020 literary service prize from PEN America, a “Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres” from the French Ministry of Culture, an ASCAP Founders Award for lifetime achievement, the Katharine Hepburn Medal from Bryn Mawr College – recognizing women whose contributions embody the drive and work ethic of the celebrated actress – Sweden’s Polar Award, an international acknowledgement for significant achievements in music, and the Burke Medal for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Trinity College, Dublin, among other honors.
At present, Smith writes, performs, and lends support to human rights issues and environmental groups. She resides in New York City.
JONATHAN CHARIFF’s career is marked by a series of significant achievements and leadership roles within the automotive industry.
His impact at the helm of South Motors and Vista Motors has been transformative, as he’s integrated family values into the business ethos and focused on strategic problem-solving to drive growth. He sold nine of the 10 franchises earlier this year, achieving a record valuation for these brands in the United States. And as legislative chair of the South Florida Auto Dealers Association and an executive board member of the Florida Auto Dealers Association, he has been at the forefront of representing the interests of the auto industry. During his tenure he has overseen critical legal defenses for the state association, demonstrating his commitment to the industry’s well-being.
During Jonathan’s time with South Motors, the company was a steadfast supporter of the Miami Book Fair contributing more than $325,000 to the event since 2012. South Motors has been one of the Miami Book Fair’s largest and longest standing local corporate sponsors.
Chariff’s interests in boating, fishing, and traveling reflect a life philosophy that values adventure and excellence – a philosophy he has instilled within his family and business practices. He and his wife, Jacquline Dascal-Chariff, reside in Miami Beach with their daughter, Gabriella.
Known as “Jan Mapou,” JEAN-MARIE DENIS, an accomplished playwright and the artistic director and founder of Sosyete Koukouy of Miami, is a foundational figure in the Haitian American cultural community. Born in Les Cayes, Haiti, he is celebrated for his dedication to preserving Haitian culture and promoting the Kreyòl language.
Mapou’s journey as a cultural advocate began in Haiti, where he was a significant proponent of the Haitian Creole language. In 1965, he co-founded the Mouvement Créole Haïtien to promote and educate people about Haitian Creole. His activism led to his four-month imprisonment by the Duvalier regime in 1969. In 1972, he moved to the United States, first settling in New York before moving to Miami in 1984. In Miami, he founded Sosyete Koukouy to preserve Haitian culture through education and cultural presentations. Since 1985, the organization has been instrumental in promoting traditional Haitian music, dance, and folklore in the United States. In 1990, he opened Libreri Mapou in Miami’s Little Haiti. The bookstore, which also serves as a cultural center, boasts the nation’s largest inventory of titles on Haitian culture and history. It hosts rehearsals, language classes, storytelling sessions, and various community events, making it a hub of cultural activity.
Mapou’s work extends into various cultural and initiatives, including the Little Haiti Book Festival, which he founded. Originally known as the Haitian American Book Fair, the festival was renamed when he partnered with Miami Book Fair to expand its reach and impact. His work around this beloved annual event reflects his lifelong commitment to preserving and promoting Haitian heritage in Miami and beyond by providing a platform for Haitian literature and cultural expression. His legacy inspires and influences the next generation of Haitian artists, writers, and cultural advocates.
2023 HONOREES
New York Times bestselling author and humorist DAVE BARRY is synonymous with South Florida, a place he often pokes fun at and clearly adores. In 1988, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his long-running syndicated column, which ran in 500-plus newspapers and was the inspiration for the television show Dave’s World. He has written dozens of books, many that explore all that’s weird and wonderful about the place we call home, like Big Trouble, Best. State. Ever. – A Florida Man Defends His Homeland, and most recently, Swamp Story: A Novel. Other titles include Lessons From Lucy: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog; Dave Barry Turns Forty; and Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up. He also wrote – with fellow Florida-loving scribes Tananarive Due, Carl Hiaasen, Les Standiford, and others – Naked Came the Manatee, and with Ridley Pearson wrote the bestselling Starcatchers series of young adult novels, one of which was adapted as the Tony Award-winning Broadway play Peter and the Starcatcher.
Dave Barry has been with Miami Book Fair since it began, sharing a long list of his titles with fairgoers, whose laughter has reverberated throughout the Miami Dade College, and moved them to standing ovations. He’s also a founding member of the legendary Rock Bottom Remainders, a ragtag band made up of published authors who performed at MBF more than a dozen times and moved the crowds to dance in the streets.
RICHARD BLANCO’s award-winning debut poetry collection, City of a Hundred Fires – an introspective exploration of his Cuban American experience and the life-changing journey he took to his familial and cultural homeland – was published to critical acclaim in 1998. He has released 11 more books since, including the poetry collections Looking for the Gulf Motel and How to Love a Country, and the memoirs For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey and The Prince of los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood. Blanco’s poems have also appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and dozens of other publications. Selected as the fifth presidential inaugural poet in United States history by former President Barack Obama in 2012, an honor that made him the youngest and first Latino, immigrant, and gay individual to serve in that role, Blanco read One Today, a poem written especially for the inauguration that was later made into a children’s book illustrated by renowned artist Dav Pilkey. A recent recipient of the National Humanities Medal, in 2022 Blanco was also named the first poet laureate of Miami-Dade County.
Richard Blanco has been involved with Miami Book Fair since the publication of his first book. As Miami-Dade County’s poet laureate, he’s participated in MBF’s Classroom Collaborations program at Miami Dade College, and his close connection to the Fair and MDC was most recently felt when he honored the college’s president, Madeline Pumariega, with a dedicated poem on the day of her investiture. Blanco – who had established himself in a career as an engineer before casting aside the security of that profession to instead follow his creative path – is a shining manifestation of dream-turned-reality. Holding on to a belief in himself and with the support of community leaders like the ones we also honor here tonight, that creativity was nurtured to realize a wildly successful career that impacts millions across the world – and opens the door for generations of immigrants. Miami truly is a Magic City.
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, author EDWIDGE DANTICAT came to the United States at the age of 12 and long called Miami home, where she was an active member and supporter of the city’s large Haitian community. She has written numerous books, including her critically acclaimed debut novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory; The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; Brother, I’m Dying, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and National Book Award finalist; Mama’s Nightingale, a heartbreaking and beautifully illustrated picture book about immigration; The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story, a memoir-like reflection on her mother’s battle with cancer and an examination of how other writers approach the subject of death; and her most recent book, Everything Inside: Stories, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is a 2018 Neustadt International Prize for Literature winner and the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant. Her inspiring words and work have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and elsewhere.
Edwidge Danticat is a longtime contributor and supporter of Miami Book Fair who has been significantly involved in MBF’s ReadCaribbean and Little Haiti Book Festival programs throughout her lauded career. These initiatives highlight and uplift writers of the Caribbean and Haitian diasporas, sharing their respective works and collective rich heritage with greater Miami – from the littlest readers to adults. Danticat is an unbreakable thread woven through that cultural tapestry. She embodies the promise and potential that can be discovered with self-determination, unflinching dedication, and the support of an adopted community, one fostered by the encouragement of stakeholders like those being acknowledged this evening. Like so many others who come to our glittering city to establish roots and lives in a country that once was not their own, she sought more and found it, and in doing so stands as a symbol of accomplishment legions of others look to for inspiration and strength.
A philanthropist, writer, and documentarian, KIMBERLY GREEN has helmed the Green Family Foundation since 1997, spearheading a variety of transformative initiatives in Haiti and in her native Miami. Her work in Haiti ranges from community health and development to cultural repatriation and preservation, and includes a partnership with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the establishment of its Haiti Research and Policy Program, partnering on the “Sinema Anba Zetwal”/Cinema Under the Stars “Food for Souls” tour – which followed the 2010 earthquake’s fault line and was attended by more than 250,000 people – and executive producing the Grammy-nominated Alan Lomax in Haiti: Recordings for the Library of Congress, 1936-1937. She also directed and produced the award-winning documentary Once There Was a Country: Revisiting Haiti, narrated by Maya Angelou and Guy Johnson. In Miami, a close association with Florida International University resulted in the creation of the Steven and Dorothea Green Library and the Digital Library of the Caribbean, and led to the establishment of the NeighborhoodHELP program. Green most recently co-founded Green Space Miami, a community arts and conversation space.
Kimberly Green’s ties to Miami Book Fair run long and deep, contributing to the success of the Fair’s programs for many years. Together with the Green Family Foundation, she has dedicated herself, hands-on, to founding the ReadCaribbean and Little Haiti Book Festival programs alongside MBF and Sosyete Koukouy, a national grassroots organization dedicated to preserving Haitian traditions and the Creole language. Her crucial support has made the development and sustainability of these important literary and community-serving initiatives possible.
ALBERTO IBARGÜEN, former publisher of the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, is the outgoing president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a role he’s held since 2005. It’s perhaps there that he’s made his most significant impact on Miami and its residents, through the organization’s unwavering commitment to promoting informed and engaged communities through the support of free expression, journalism, the arts, and community engagement. During his tenure at the Herald, the paper won three Pulitzer Prizes and El Nuevo Herald won Spain’s Ortega y Gasset Prize for excellence in Spanish-language journalism. For his work to protect journalists in Latin America, he received a Maria Moors Cabot citation from Columbia University. Ibargüen also serves on the boards of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, the National Museum of the American Latino, and the Paley Center for Media. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Philosophical Society.
Alberto Ibargüen and Knight Foundation have been staunch supporters of Miami Book Fair for many years, helping to launch MBF’s expansion into year-round programming in 2002 and, in 2020, making MiamiBookFairOnline – a platform that allowed Miamians and people from all over the world to enjoy the Fair from home during the darkest days of the pandemic not just possible, but a success. Their unwavering annual support has been critical to sustaining the Fair and allowing its growth and transformation, keeping apace with Miami’s explosion as a major American city that can compete and thrive in the 21st century as it’s done since 1984.
A tireless advocate for children and families, DAVID LAWRENCE JR. has spent decades directing his energy toward making the world a better place for children in Miami and Florida. After retiring as the publisher of the Miami Herald in 1999 – his tenure saw the paper win five Pulitzer Prizes – he focused on early childhood development, chairing a task force on school readiness and establishing The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, a national model for high-quality early childhood development. He then campaigned for the creation of The Children’s Trust in 2002 – Miami-Dade’s longtime steward of tax-fed funding for essential programs for children and families. His efforts in the years that followed led to a constitutional amendment making high-quality pre-K available free to all 4-year-olds in the state; the establishment of The Children’s Movement of Florida in 2010, where he remains its chair; and the furthering of his goals for children as the founding chair of the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe. The awards, accolades, and honors he’s received over the years are far too long to list. If he asks you what you’re reading, be sure to have an answer at the ready.
David Lawrence Jr.’s commitment to children and literacy reverberates throughout Miami Book Fair, where a partnership with The Children’s Trust sustains Books for Free. A year-round initiative, B4F has placed 1.3 million-plus books in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole into the hands of children via 75-plus public bookshelves placed throughout Miami-Dade County. His vision has always inspired MBF, which presents dozens of authors for kids and youth at the Fair each year, works with county schools to bring thousands of elementary through high school students to the Generation Genius Authors program, and where even more free books are distributed in an effort to foster literacy and understanding and acceptance of their fellow human beings.