List of people from Key West, Florida

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

• Vic Albury (1947–2017), Major League Baseball pitcher
• Bronson Arroyo (born 1977), MLB baseball player^[1]
• John James Audubon (1785–1851), naturalist, painter, ornithologist^[2]
• Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979), poet, short-story writer^[3]
• Jimmy Buffett (1946–2023), singer-songwriter, musician, author, actor, businessman^[4]
• Truman Capote (1924–1984), novelist, screenwriter, playwright, actor ^[5]
• Eric Carle (1929–2021), children's book author and illustrator most famous for The Very Hungry Caterpillar^[6]
• David Allan Coe (born 1939), musician^[7]
• Tom Corcoran (1943–2023), author
• Sandy Cornish (1793–1869), farmer, businessperson, civic leader, former slave^[8]
• Paul Cotton (1943–2021), musician
• John Dewey (1859–1952), philosopher, educational reformer, psychologist^[9]
• John Dos Passos (1896–1970), novelist^[10]
• Stepin Fetchit (1902–1985), vaudevillian, comedian, film actor^[11]
• Mel Fisher (1922–1998), treasure hunter, best known for finding the 1622 wreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha^[12]
• Robert Fuller (born 1933), actor^[13]
• Khalil Greene (born 1979), MLB shortstop
• Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961), novelist, short-story writer, journalist, sportsman^[14][15][16]
• Winslow Homer (1836–1910), landscape painter, printmaker^[17]
• Mike Leach (1961–2022), college football coach ^[18]
• Alison Lurie (1926–2020), Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, academic
• Stephen Mallory (1812–1873), U.S. senator^[19]
• James Merrill (1926–1995), Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
• George Mira (born 1942), football player^[20]
• Diana Nyad (born 1949), author, journalist, motivational speaker, long-distance swimmer; famous for being the first person to swim from Cuba to Key West without the aid of a shark cage^[21]
• Bettie Page (1923–2008), pin-up model^[22]
• John Patterson (born 1967), MLB second baseman
• Quincy Perkins (born 1980), filmmaker^[23]
• Boog Powell (born 1941), baseball player^[24][25]
• David Robinson (born 1965), basketball player^[26]
• Thomas Sanchez (born 1943), author
• Shel Silverstein (1930–1999), author, cartoonist and musician^[27]
• Shane Spencer (born 1972), MLB outfielder
• Randy Sterling (born 1951), MLB pitcher
• Wallace Stevens (1879–1955), Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
• Keith Strickland (born 1953), musician, songwriter, founding member of The B-52s
• Michel Tremblay (born 1942), Canadian playwright
• Harry S. Truman (1884–1972), U.S. president^[14]
• Blake R. Van Leer (1893–1956), fifth president of Georgia Institute of Technology, colonel, inventor
• Dick Vermeil (born 1936), former Super Bowl Champion NFL Coach^[28]
• Tony White (born 1979), defensive coordinator for the Nebraska Cornhuskers
• Tennessee Williams (1911–1983), author^[15]
• David Wolkowsky (1919–2018), real estate developer, preservationist^[29]
• Stuart Woods (1938–2022), novelist^[30]

References

1. Shpigel, Ben. "Arroyo Leaves the Mets Flailing." The New York Times. June 20, 2006.
2. . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
3. de León, Concepción (November 13, 2019). "Literary Nonprofit Buys Elizabeth Bishop's Key West Home". The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
4. Pooley, Eric. "." TIME. August 17, 1998.
5. "Welton, J Michael. https://www.oceanhomemag.com/lifestyle/a-literary-and-literal-history-of-key-west. Ocean Home. November 11, 2019."/
6. Ulaby, Neda (June 12, 2019). "A Very Happy 50th Birthday To 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'". Retrieved June 14, 2019.
7. Sandra Brennan (1997). All Music Guide to Country. Michael Erlewine. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-0-87930-475-1.
8. "Freed Slave Sandy Cornish Gets a Marker in Cemetery". South Florida Times. February 19, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
9. Psycopaedìa. Psicopolis.com
10. Dos Passos, John (1966). The best times: an informal memoir. New American Library.
11. Strausbaugh, John. "Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry." International Herald Tribune. December 12, 2005.
12. Pace, Eric. "Mel Fisher, 76, a Treasure Hunter Who Got Rich Undersea." The New York Times. December 21, 1998.
13. Collura, Joe (September 1, 2017). "Robert Fuller". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
14. Nickell, Patti. "Key West: The fun begins where the road ends." Lexington Herald-Leader. September 21, 2008.
15. "Key West fest honors Tennessee Williams." CNN. February 23, 2003.
16. "." TIME. February 19, 1979.
17. Federal Writers' Project (1939). Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9781603540094. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
18. "Ex-Texas Tech coach Mike Leach expects return to coaching". ESPN. March 18, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
19. Crankshaw, Joe. "Water District Chanded S. Florida." Miami Herald. September 29, 1985. Page 2TC.
20. Effrat, Louis. "Mira, Heralded Quarterback, Also Sought as Big League Pitcher; Miami star here for festivities All-America Back Puts Off Thoughts of Turning Pro to Finish College." The New York Times. December 7, 1962.
21. Alvarez, Lizette (September 2, 2013). "Nyad Completes Cuba-to-Florida Swim". The New York Times.
22. "Miss Key West Bettie Page".
23. [1] December 29, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
24. Distel, Dave. "Baseball Bat, Fishing Pole Both Valuable to Boog." Los Angeles Times News Service (via St. Petersburg Times.) August 15, 1970.
25. Burke, J. Wills. The Streets of Key West. Pineapple Press. 200.
26. Whiteside, Larry. "Taking center stage David Robinson has wasted no time in winning star status." The Boston Globe. January 12, 1990.
27. Blinckmann, Hays. https://keysweekly.com/42/shel-silversteins-home-destroyed/ "Keys Weekly." 28 September 2017.
28. Chris Tomasson. "Dick Vermeil led Eagles to first Super Bowl, hoping for different outcome on Sunday." Pioneer Press. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
29. "Real-Estate-Entrepreneur.com". July 14, 2012. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
30. Stuart Woods Official Website. stuartwoods.com June 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine