John D. and Sarasota Ron

I have always been an avid reader, starting with the Hardy Boy books when I was a kid. Someone once said: “A non-reader is somebody standing there in a blindfold.” One of my favorite authors is John D. MacDonald . MacDonald lived in Sarasota for many years, and wrote many of his books while living there in his house on Siesta Key. He became one of the best read and widely loved Florida authors of his generation. Recently, Sarasota celebrated his life and his books for what would have been his 100th birthday. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has published tributes to his lasting influence by more than two dozen authors. 

John D MacDonald wrote 78 novels and almost 500 short stories. Many of his stories are set in Florida, making him probably the most prolific of all Florida authors. Most notable of the Florida books are his Travis McGee series. I read my first Travis McGee novels back in the 1960’s and have read every one them. They are good reads the second, third and fourth time too. These 21 novels are packed with mystery and adventure, and describe the changes in Florida between 1964 and 1985.

Travis McGee may be the first great modern fictional Florida hero. Commercially speaking, there has never been a smarter creation than Travis McGee. He is the embodiment of male wish-fulfillment. No nine-to-five job, lives by his own set of rules, resides on a houseboat, drinks but is not a drunk, tall, handsome, good with his fists but not a bully, etc. He has been called the first great modern Florida adventurer. 

One of my Sarasota hometown hangouts was the Crescent Club on Siesta Key. Nobody understood a place like the Crescent Club better than John D. MacDonald and he used some version of it over and over again in his books. It appears most prominently in his great Sarasota novel “Condominium“. There are bars like the Crescent Club the world over. But thanks to MacDonald, we have the embodiment only here in Sarasota.

MacDonald was the first modern writer to nail Florida dead-center, to capture its languid lifestyle, racy sense of promise and breathtaking beauty. This is why people come to Sarasota on vacation and fall in love with it. I have seen many changes in my lifetime of living in Sarasota; some say it has grown too fast and that we have enough people here. But how can you not want to live here once you have experienced paradise? I love this quote by J. Michael Blue: "Travis McGee had the right idea. Retirement days should be taken early and often." 

So if you are looking for a beautiful place to live and retire, Sarasota is it and I can help you find your dream home in Sarasota and tell you some stories about my hometown and why John D. MacDonald loved it here!

Sources and Credits: Florida Zone Blogspot, JDMHomepage.com, Sarasota History Alive, YourObserver.com

Memories of Siesta Key

My wife and I both grew up in Sarasota. We are Baby Boomers, so we have seen a lot of changes over the years. One of my wife’s favorite stories is about a condo I sold on Siesta Key at Beach Villas. When I mentioned the listing to Liz, she asked me the address and when I told her it was 221 Beach Road, she got teary-eyed.

She and her family lived at that EXACT address in the mid-50’s through the early 60’s. Her aunt and uncle owned 13 little cottages just around the curve of Beach Road, coming south from Siesta Village. There were two little cottages right on the beach and the rest were just across on Beach Road. They were simple little places – pecky cyprus walls, no air conditioning (but a wonderful gulf breeze blowing through the Australian pines), and  sulfur water (no water treatment plants then) but she didn’t mind any of it. She remembers when there were no buildings taller than two stories and nothing blocking access to the beautiful sugar sand beaches along Siesta Key…and few people on the beach back then, especially in the summer. Her days were filled with building sand castles, picking up shells (she still has a huge shell collection) and the feel of tiny sand crabs and live coquinas wriggling between her toes as she walked the wide, white sand along the shoreline. She describes walking barefoot to Siesta Sundries in The Village and buying Supergirl comic books and cherry cokes at the soda fountain. Those were the days!

Even though we miss those days gone by, Siesta Key is still incredibly beautiful and a fabulous place to live and play. It’s the number one beach in the world, and Siesta Village is filled with great places to eat and buy beach treasures. I have sold several properties on Siesta Key and have a listing now at 1156 W PEPPERTREE DRIVE Unit# 114C in Peppertree Bay. Call me at 941-315-1185 to find your dream home on Siesta Key – and my wife can tell you some great stories!