< Previous30 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 HOMEPORT They refinished the pocket doors, exposed a sleeping porch and added furniture to make it into an extra bedroom. They enclosed an unused walk-through window, creating a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, and decorated it with pirate-related knickknacks. The kitchen, which faces Broadway and has a clear view of the Galveston harbor through the wavy glass windows, still has all of its original cabinets. Cruz added some trim to dress up the cabinet doors, but the only updates to the kitchen have been the appliances. An ex- posed brick chimney is reminiscent of early heating systems. The house has four bedrooms, each decorated with a theme: the Texas room, the beach room, the palm room and the nursery. The third floor of the house is a storage attic. But it’s the “basement” that gets all the attention. From the ne- on-painted stairway to the brightly colored murals on the walls, Cap- tain Mike’s Pirate Cave has been Cruz’s passion. He brought in game tables for foosball, poker, ping pong, black Jack, craps and darts. And he decorated the room with ice chests that look like over-flowing treasure chests, a skeleton named Bones the Bartender and a variety of swords, hats and pirate shirts. He also Mike Cruz and his wife restored the 1914 Victorian house he grew up in on Broadway in Galveston. Although pirate-themed décor is found throughout the house, the lower level is the centerpiece. COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 31 created a full kitchen in the pirate cave to accommodate gatherings and parties. He leases the house as a short-term rental. “We have so much fun down here,” he said. “I think people rent the house just for the pirate cave.” He commissioned an artist to create a 12-foot-long pirate flag, which he attached to the ceiling and rewired some whiskey barrels to pro- duce light fixtures. He painted the floors with neon colors that glow in the dark and built several tables with beer bottle caps covered in a thick resin. “I think I’ve been a pirate all my life,” said Cruz, who was born on Galveston Island. “I ride along the gray line — not the black or white. I have the attitude that all those rules don’t apply to me. That’s the pirate approach.” But, he believes in the work hard, play hard ethic, he said. “I work like a captain and play like a pirate,” he said. “That’s me — I work hard and then party.” (Above) Mike Cruz made a model of Queen Anne’s Revenge, the early 18th century flagship of Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. (Top) A book on “Pirateology.”TheGrand.com 409.765.1894 2020 Postoffice Street, Galveston Sat, Oct 7. 2023 | 8 PM From the heart-wrenching emotion of Les Misérables to the remarkable harmonies of the Jersey Boys! Sat, Oct 14, 2023 | 8 PM Grammy Award ® -winning master trumpeter and composer! Sat, Oct 28, 2023 | 8 PM Former member of The Irish Tenors!34 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 CURRENTS | MUSIC PIRATE OR PRIVATEER? Islander challenges Jean Laffite’s reputation in musical production story by BARBARA CANETTI | photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS I slander Jim Nonus is on a mis- sion. His goal is to dispel the long-held story that brothers Jean and Pierre Laffite, who lived in Galveston, were dan- gerous criminals and pirates. “They were businessmen,” said Nonus, who is a fifth-generation Galvestonian. “Jean Laffite was a patriot and the hero of the Battle of New Orleans in 1814; he was a privateer.” A privateer is someone com- missioned by a government to legally exert their right to pillage. In other words, they have a license to commit crimes on the high seas. The Laffites were given permission to legally track down and prey on enemy ships — the British and the Spanish — and keep whatever goods they could take from those ships. It was all legal, except the Laffites “forgot” to pay their taxes, which was a crime, Nonus said. “Laffite’s big crime is he didn’t pay customs or taxes on the items he stole,” Nonus said. Laffite — as the Frenchman signed his name — also is spelled sometimes LaFitte. He lived on Galveston Island from 1817 to 1820. Remnants of his home, which had been designed by an architect, COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 35 Galvestonian Jim Nonus is working on a musical to bring the story of Jean Laffite to the stage. He has been working on “Laffite the Musical” for more than a decade. (Opposite) A small drawing of Laffite and a signature believed to belong to the pirate who briefly lived in Galveston.36 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023remain along Harborside Drive near 15th street. The property was burned to the ground in 1820 when Jean Laffite sailed away to the Yucatan, Nonus said. To bring the story of Laffite to the public, Nonus has been working on a play, “Laffite the Musical,” for more than a decade. He has written the music and lyrics for most of the songs and created a storyline that follows the brothers when they returned after the war in 1817 to New Orleans and weren’t welcomed back. They fled and moved to Galveston, where they stayed until 1820, when the U.S. Navy booted them off the island. “The play is about the romantic Laffite and the hurt he felt at not being valued any longer after the war,” Nonus said. He worked with pianist Bonny Karger to develop the songs and had planned a local program in Galveston on Laffite, but Hurricane Ike in 2008 “put us all out of business.” Nonus realized with the success of the Broadway hit “Hamilton” there’s a desire for historical musicals, he said. The brothers Laffite have an interesting story, “twice the charisma of Hamilton,” and fodder for many historians and writers to de- velop, he said. Nonus is determined to make Laffite a successful show. Besides the play, Nonus has helped The Laffite Society of Galveston collect infor- mation and data about the brothers and store their archives and journals for future research. He was one of the local founders of the organization in 1994. “No, he was not a pirate,” Nonus said of Jean Laffite. “He was a businessman, but he had many captains and workers who were pirates. Actually, the Golden Age of pirates ended 100 years before Laffite.” In addition to the Laffite materials, Nonus also has written several books, under the pen name Julian Novak, including “Men in the Chorus” and “Tina Lake is Alive and Doing Well in the Vieux Carré.” He has appeared in documentaries about the Laffites and also has written a children’s book, “Jim- my & The Pirate,” which has been translated into five languages. Nonus became interested in the brothers Laffite as a small child, he said. He describes himself as a daydreamer who likes to write, paint and sing. The Laffites have been a lifelong obsession, he said. “My curiosity began when I was about 4 years old,” he said. “I was having nightmares about pirates and my mother told me about Jean Laffite, a good pirate that once lived in Galves- ton and had built a home here. “I believe Jean Laffite’s presence in New Orleans and Galveston also intrigued me and he was French. My great-grandfather Emanuel Joaquin Nonus was French and his wife, Angelica Lorenza Diaz Pinta, sailed from her native country Portugal to New Orleans first and then to Galveston to be married here,” Nonus said. “I have often wondered if I was related to the Laffite brothers.” Nonus has met with theater-industry contacts in New York and hopes to get some interest in staging the show — either off Broadway in New York or near Broadway in Galveston. COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 37 CURRENTS | MUSIC Jim Nonus has collected many documents relating to Jean Laffite that he has used for research as he has worked on books and his musical about the privateer. (Right) A print of an 1804 portrait of Laffite when he was 22 years old.Our Breast Health team provides a variety of services, including: •Comprehensive Breast Imaging •Genetic Screening •Medical Oncology •Surgical Oncology •Radiation Oncology •Breast Reconstruction Preventing, diagnosing, and treating breast disease The University of Texas Medical Branch is in-network for most major insurance plans. Contact our Breast Health team at (800) 917-8906 , visit our website at utmbhealth.com/breast-health or scan the QR code to find a specialist and schedule your appointment. UTMB Health utilizes state-of-the-art imaging, medical and surgical services to provide the highest level of care for our patients. 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