Saloon Man

*Winner of the Gold Award in Biography from the Florida Authors and Publisher�s Association 2025 Book Awards

Robert Mugge�s second book�Saloon Man: A German Immigrant Battles the Limits of Liberty, 1870 to 1915�focuses on his great-grandfather, the �original� Robert Mugge who came to America at the age of seventeen; made his way to Tampa, Florida while it was still a settlement; and became a hugely successful businessman. Because his core businesses were alcohol-related at a time of oncoming temperance�and because he hired, partnered with, and supported African Americans during Jim Crow segregation�the �saloon magnate of Tampa� was also controversial.

As author Michael Tisserand writes in his foreword, �A hallmark of any Mugge film is that it is both a documentary and a celebration of lives that are lived with staggering amounts of creativity. It is in this tradition that Saloon Man might be best understood.� Or as Mugge writes of his ancestor, �He created businesses the way others compose music, paint pictures, or write books: as an extension of his inner self.�