Hemingway's Picasso

Chapter Six: Verso

The consequences of Steve’s actions as a father and drug smuggler have lasting effects on his loved ones. 

Stevie, his son, recounts an altercation he had with his father when he was 18, and how it set his mental health to spiral out of control. 

He spends the next 10 years of his life distancing himself from his father’s Miami and the heavy burden of Fred and Betty. 



Steve’s old girlfriend, Lourdes, comes back into his life 30 years later, during his last and final years. But then, Steve receives a phone call that threatens to put an end to their love story. 



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.