Audio By Carbonatix
Separated at birth? You decide
Phil Hopkins, 21, has been delivering food from The Daily (2001 Biscayne Blvd, Miami) to the New Times building almost every day for the past year.
At the restaurant, Chef Mario holds up the new issue of the Biscayne Times, points at the photo of former New Times writer Jim Defede on the cover, and exclaims, “That is Phil, looks just like him.”
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“Mario has been making fun of me ever since that newspaper came out”, says Phil shaking his head.
“He’s not as large as Jim Defede, but he could be his son. I call him Lil’ Jim,” says New Times receptionist Bobby Brown.
I spent an afternoon with “Phil the Jim Defede look-alike”, driving up and down Biscayne Boulevard while he delivered food. “This is my mom’s car, I was in an accident on February 24th,” he chuckles while turning down Ol Dirty Bastard on his car stereo. “Driving back from the Slayer show, I spun out of control and did a complete 180 in the middle of the highway. I trashed my car pretty bad.” He abruptly slams on his brakes in front of an office building. “This guy always wants extra cream and sugar, but he tips good”, Phil smiles. I wait in the car as he goes inside.
Back at the Daily, Phil waits for orders to come in, and his co-workers seem befuddled. “What is so interesting about Phil?” asks Jennifer. “Who is Jim Defede, anyway?” —Jason Handelsman
