Give this man a towel

TFM is good at finding nuts in Florida. Here is an example from today's Miami Herald.

Stuart Taylor extends his arms to create a warrior-like gesture. His legs stand strong in a contrapposto pose. He is completely still, nude, while college art students make him the subject of their drawings and oil paintings.

Being a nude model isn't easy -- at any age. Taylor is 85.

''It's hard work to stand still doing all those poses,'' said Taylor, a Coconut Grove resident. ``Sometimes I get myself in trouble for getting in positions I shouldn't get into.''

Positions, such as a modified version of Rodin's Thinker, which affects blood circulation over a long period of time.

There are an estimated 20 nude models throughout the county, said Jennifer Basile, a figure-drawing professor at Miami Dade College in Kendall.

But Taylor is the most, ahem, mature by decades.

For Taylor, it all began in 1947, when he was a struggling college student at the University of Wisconsin.

At the time, models who wore bathing suits commanded $1.25 and one wearing a supporter earned $1.50.

One day, Taylor forgot his supporter.

'I told the instructor: `I'll need to model nude for you.' He was upset and gave me a towel,'' Taylor said.

''I remember having supper that first night at my fraternity, and I had butterflies just thinking about it,'' he said.

The last thing I felt was butterflies on seeing Mr. Taylor in a G rated pose at the the Miami Herald page. Don't venture over if you've eaten recently.

85-year-old men or women in the nude do nothing for me. I think that can be said for most of the breathing population. Mr. Taylor is a work of...... You fill in the blank.

Open Post- Blue Star, Jo's Cafe,