Ashes Stolen of Famed Guide Bill Curtis

   02.01.17

Ashes Stolen of Famed Guide Bill Curtis

Novelist Carl Hiaasen has made a career of writing about bizarre events and characters in Florida. This is worthy of Hiaasen’s prose.

Long-timed and famed South Florida fishing guide Bill Curtis, who died in October at 91, was cremated last year, but has had his ashes stolen.

The ashes were swiped from a truck owned by Dennis Dara who was parked at Flanigan’s Seafood Grill in Coconut Grove. Only Curtis’ ashes were stolen, with the thief reaching around and over other pricey items, including a laptop computer and camera case.

Curtis’ ashes were going to be spread over Biscayne Bay (the place he spent most time fishing), but bad weather delayed that. Friends and family were going to try again in April, until the box containing Curtis’ ashes was stolen.

Curtis spent over 50 years guiding on South Florida flats, leading hundreds of anglers to prized bonefish, permit, tarpon, and other species. Among his friends and clients were singer Jimmy Buffett and Buffett’s brother-in-law, novelist Thomas McGuane.

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Bob McNally is currently a writer for AllOutdoor who has chosen not to write a short bio at this time.

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