Tahiti Report: An In-depth, Very Intimate Look at Tahiti Before the Jets Came (1960) and Today (2000). [Paperback]

Austin Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2000

Austin Peterson first became island happy during WW2 when, as a Major in the Armed Forces Radio Section, he toured AFRS stations in the Pacific (Honolulu, Kwajelein, Eniwetok, Ulithi, Guam. Saipan, Palau, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, Manila, Biak, New Guinea, the Admiralties, Guadalcanal, New Caledonia, Canton and Futi Futi). In 1960 he wrote Tahiti Report which was sponsored by Pan Am. He also wrote travel reports on Fiji, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Manua Islands and Western Samoa for the airline. Tahiti Report was used by H. Allen Smith (author of Two Thirds of a Coconut Tree), by the MGM film crew on location for Mutiny on the Bounty, and Jack Paar read from it on his South Seas TV special.Peterson retired in 1999 after 67 years in radio and television as a writer and producer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (September 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595007406
• ISBN-13: 978-0595007400
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Travel > Australia & South Pacific > Tahiti
  • #84 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Writing > Travel
  • #91 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Travel > Reference & Tips > Essays & Travelogues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars From Michener to MGM: Tahitian Adventures in Paradise, October 9, 2010

By 

Kurt Grussendorf (Pensacola, Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tahiti Report: An In-depth, Very Intimate Look at Tahiti Before the Jets Came (1960) and Today (2000). (Paperback)

A short little book that is a bit naughty in places reminiscent of a Tennessee William's play. It does picture the beginnings of modernization in old Tahiti, while hearkening back to earlier times when the only way to Papeete was by boat. A keen insight into the reactions of the Polynesians to the modern world and the beginnings of a hybrid culture that moved from gratis open-sensuality to tourist profiteering, with some rousing tales of an assortment of adventure-seeking free-spirits who sought their own unsullied Eden. The reader is left with the impression that it might have been better if the jets had never arrived and the French had never come--then again--who can keep the handsome beauty of Tahiti from the rest of the world. And for a person that grew up watching Adam Troy in Adventures in Paradise--well, those days are gone forever.