Hemingway's Picasso

Chapter Four: Poor Pablo

After being released from prison in 1984, Steve tries his luck at getting a normal job. 

But when his past kept catching up with him, Mustafa Hamshaw, AKA Joe Pegg, gives him a chance of a lifetime. 



Steve meets a Miami Dolphins cheerleader, Patron, one night on the dance floor, and they elope quickly thereafter. 

After a whirlwind romance, a less-than-perfect marriage followed, and soon Steve would realize he might need to make one last, big run to try to get out of the game and save his family. 



This is a Somethin' Else production in association with Vespucci. 


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Steve Kough lived many lives. He was an NFL journeyman, a male model, and one of the most well-connected smugglers in 1980’s Miami, the “Drug Capital of the World." 

Kough collected many souvenirs from his adventures, but his most treasured bounty – a beautiful ceramic, crafted by Pablo Picasso and gifted to Ernest Hemingway at the author’s Cuban home, the Finca Vigia... or so the story goes. 
Lost during the Cuban Revolution, the artwork resurfaced when Kough took it as a payment for drug run financed by the notorious Pablo Escobar. 

Kough passed away in 2018, passing the piece down to his son, Stevie, a skateboarding hippie growing weed in California. 
Stevie feels he needs to complete his father’s mission – of selling this piece and telling Steve’s cinematic life story.  

So, is the Picasso authentic—or a fraud? Was Steve Kough a big talker or a real deal smuggler? Does any of that matter or is this a story of aspiration, legacy, and difficult love? Tune in on Monday’s starting on October 18th to find out! 

This is a Somethin' Else production in association with Vespucci.