Who is Luis Grass and why have I named an award for him? Good question.
Luis Grass was a Cuban mechanic who gained some notoriety in 2003 -05 with his ingenious attempts to escape from that communist hellhole and emigrate to the United States.
His 1st attempt ended in failure when his truck was stopped before he crossed into the United States. I know what you're thinking. "You can't drive to the US from Cuba!!!" That is what separates Mr. Glass from the rest of us. Where we see 90 miles of ocean as an obstacle, he sees an opportunity to test the sea-worthiness of his 1951 Chevy pickup. Pictured here:
Unfortunately for Mr. Grass [and comrades (amigos?)], the United States Coast Guard is a bit more efficient that those fine folks patrolling our land based borders. Mr. Grass was rewarded for his ingenuity by being repatriated back to Cuba. Sadly, the pickup truck was also later sunk (reportedly through the copious application of machine-gun fire!) by the U.S. Coast Guard.
With regards to emigrants (refugees) from Cuba, The United States has a wet-foot/dry-foot policy. If you can get one foot on land, you can stay. Captured at sea? Back to Cuba.
Luckily, we hadn't heard the last of Luis Grass. The next year he modified a 1959 Buick into a boat, loaded his family into the car, and set sail for Florida. Pictured here:
While they didn't quite make it to the United States, US officials decided that in deference to his dedication he and his family would not be sent back to Cuba, but would be allowed to enjoy the relative freedom of Costa Rica. For more information (lots of photos!) about Mr. Glass and his friends, click here.
It was his 2nd attempt that caught my attention. I remember reading the news articles at the time and being amazed at his determination and entertained by his boat designs. Also one of his family members was quoted as saying, "My cousin isn't crazy. He wants to be free."
In the years since, I've thought about that quote literally thousands of times. I've read news articles about various people and there desperate attempts to gain freedom. I've met refugees from Cuba, Burma, Cambodia, and maybe a few other places.
When I hear these stories, I can't help but think "how bad were conditions where they'd leave everything they'd ever known?", "what would I do in a similar situation", "man, am I lucky", &c.
You'd have to be crazy to risk your life to flee N. Korea. You'd have to be crazy to load your family in a boat that you made out of a 60 year old car and "sail" to the US.
Then I remember, "My cousin isn't crazy. He wants to be free."
So the winner of this year's "Luis Grass Award"?
The as yet unidentified designer of this sweet baby:
Yep, that's a Cuban boat made out of Styrofoam. The Coast Guard found it a few miles from Marathon Key, FL. The "captain" claims to have left Havana, Cuba on June 20th, 2010. At this point, it is unknown if he'll be returned to Cuba or allowed to settle in the US (or a democratic alternative). If he is returned to Cuba, I'll consider it a crime against humanity. As soon as his identity is released, I'll make sure he receives proper credit on the Razor.
As for his boat, I'd like to see the Coast Guard try to sink that one.
For more information on this story, click here.
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