Writing
Andrew Otazo is currently working on Mangrove Man, which recounts his journey to removing 43,000 pounds of trash from South Florida’s coastal habitats. The book is a popular science celebration of mangrove forests’ legendary adaptability that makes them a keystone habitat and one of best defenses against a rapidly changing climate. Fulfilling his duty as a Florida Man, Andrew also writes about his preposterous exploits, involving (but not limited to) bank robbers, porn stars, island maroonings, outdoor orgies, startled crocodiles, exploding pee bottles, one-ton sea turtles, and near death experiences. Another section of the book examines how Andrew’s refugee family and an implausible route through West Point, the State Department, a Mexican president’s office, Harvard Business School, and Capitol Hill led to his activism.
Andrew built a social media following of 21,800 for his debut novel, The Miami Creation Myth. It won a 2023 Gold International Latino Book Award and an Honorable Mention for Best First Book. His short stories and essays were published in Acentos Review, Defenestration Magazine, The Plantain, and The Washington Pastime. He also published in AXIOS, The Miami Herald, The New Tropic, and Project Pulso, among other journalistic outlets.
Andrew has a proven track record of synthesizing complicated subjects into accessible formats, as illustrated by the 17 academic publications he published in collaboration with the world’s top business professors while working as a Harvard Business School research associate. These sold more than 10,000 copies to the world’s universities, corporations, and leadership programs. Andrew also independently published a peer-reviewed article in Energy Policy Journal.
Mangrove Man
Mangrove Man is an upcoming book by Andrew Otazo that explores why and how he removed 43,000 pounds of trash from Miami’s mangrove forests.
How to Save Miami from Climate Change Part 1
Miami faces an immediate existential climate change threat from stronger hurricanes and their associated storm surges. A direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane could cause catastrophic damage to South Florida literally any year now. We’re thankfully past hurricane season, but come June 2024, I know I’ll be right back…
Why I Clean Miami’s Mangroves
I’ve spent the last seven years removing 27,690 pounds of trash from South Florida’s mangrove swamps. In 2019, I walked (more like stumbled in a pain-induced fugue state) the Miami Marathon carrying 35 pounds of mangrove trash. That pack now sits in the HistoryMiami Museum. I don’t have a nonprofit.…
Why I Removed 30,000 Pounds of Trash from the Mangroves
I made it, everyone! The Dirty Thirty. The Double Quinceañera. 30,000 pounds of trash. It’s been a hell of a ride. You can’t spend 163 days in the mangroves collecting and lugging 15 tons of trash on your back without accumulating some scars along the way. Stepping on an upright…
I Removed 11,000 Pounds of Trash from a City of Miami Park. This is What I Learned.
Once a week, I spent the day pulling hundreds of pounds of other people’s trash from Virginia Key’s North Point Park. It took 12 months to clear all 1.5 miles of mangrove swamps and sand dunes ringing this public park a ten-minute drive from Downtown Miami’s skyscrapers. Here’s the final…
Like, The Most Miami Story Collection, Bro
They said it couldn’t be done, that is was suicide to even try. Countless brave men and women perished in the attempt. But somehow, through sheer will and comemierdería, Andrew Otazo collected 51 absolutely ridiculous Miami-centric stories into a single book. Utilizing new physics just to prevent it from collapsing…
Florida Rising
You think this book is fiction. You think it’s a hyperbolic lark through a fantastical version of Florida so you can laugh at my home state. But it’s not. Almost everything you’re about to read has a rock-solid basis in reality.
Miami Stories
Satirical, only-in-Miami stories from Andrew Otazo at MiamiCreationMyth.com.
