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Obsessive Runner Guy Robert "Raven" Kraft is the Forrest Gump of Miami Beach. Since 1975, he has jogged over 100,000 miles -- eight of them per day -- on the shores of South Beach. He ran through 75 pairs of sneakers, seven presidents, and the end of the disco era. Plus, he has a kick-ass beard.
A couple weeks ago, Raven published a book called The Lifeguard Murders: A South Beach Story, which features characters based on his merry band of runners. "Of course we'd like to go on something like Opera," he says. "It's true fiction."
A Virginia native, he narrates the tale -- on an accompanying CD -- in the manor of a cowboy Casey Kasem. There are 24 country western songs on the disc that serve as "a sound track to the story," which we're betting is a first in the annals of South Florida literary weirdness.
He and a friend each spend $4,000 to self-publish the novel. It's now available at Books & Books for $25.
He'll do a reading at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens February 4.
In the winter, he starts his run at the Fifth Street Lifeguard Stand at 4 p.m. Bring your banjo.
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