It appears filmmaker Billy Yeager's outlandish claims inspired the actual piano man to step forward. The Miami Herald reported last night that Nicholas Harrington, a 16-year-old from MAST Academy, placed the grand piano on the sandbar as a project to build up his art portfolio. He provided video of the piano being hoisted onto a 22-foot fishing boat, while Yeager still can't seem to find his images from his alleged adventure.
The teenager told Channel 10 News: "I liked the idea of an anonymous piano out there, no explanation to it. But another person came out with the idea that they did it. That's just not right. But what people would do for publicity, who knows."
Yeager's claims managed to catch the attention of CNN's American
Morning, at least according to a transcript of what aired at 2 a.m. And
this is not the first time the angry hippie, as some of you are calling
him, has appeared in the New Times. In 1993, music writer Greg Baker
wrote a glowing review of Yeager's song "Little Puggy." In 1997, Broward
New Times ran a story about his film, Jimmy's Story, and
described it as Wayne's World meets Spinal Tap.
Still, it seem most
Miamians preferred it when the piano was unexplained. Angry hippies
decrying Miami as shallow or teenagers hoping to get a leg up in their
college applications drain a little magic out of the spectacle. Just
like in any good marriage, it's good to keep a little mystery. So let's
all turn our attention to a South Florida legend that will always go
unclaimed: the Skunk Ape.
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