Customer Reviews

Yesteryear I Lived in Paradise: The Story of Caladesi Island

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this great little book a few years ago. It is a heart warming story of a women's love affair with a beautiful Florida island that has been saved from development, and is now a park.
Myrtle Betz moved to the island with her father when she was a small child, and grew up there rowing a small boat to school on the mainland each day.
If you love Old Florida you will enjoy this book. You may be inspired to take a trip to this beautiful unspoiled park.

This is one of those books that you can't put down and makes you feel good.

Yesteryear I Lived in Paradise is a fascinating, enlightening and informative account of pioneer life on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It is a reminder to us all that there still is beauty surrounding us, if only we know how to see it as Myrtle Betz did. The reader will surely wonder if, despite all our modern amenities, we may truly be missing something very special. Read it. Walk into the photos. Scan the "Timeline." You'll see that Myrtle Betz' granddaughters have done well in sharing Myrtle's "paradise" and a colorful part of Florida's history.

Since moving to Pinellas County, Florida over a decade ago, I've enjoyed reading histories of the area. This memoir of life on Caladesi Island was exceptional. To this day, the island remains a pristine sanctuary where it is possible to walk southward on the beach without seeing another human (especially if you take the first, 10AM ferry to Caladesi from Honeymoon Island. On my next trip to Caladesi, I will walk the full length of the island to search for the site of the homestead in this book. Reading Myrtle Sharrer Betz's book opened up a new understanding and appreciation of the Dunedin area, in terms of the village and the offshore islands.

This is a marvelous book that should be included in a gift basket for all new residents to north Pinellas. Knowing the history of the area in which we live is a primal experience, and a gift we can share with others. In this case, thank you, Myrle (posthumously) for sharing your stories with us. They will always enhance my visits to Caladesi Island, and my general, historic appreciation for the area we now call "home."

Fascinating stories of Florida homestead living. Beautifully designed book, the text is well illustrated with authentic family photos. Yesteryear I Lived in Paradise: The Story of Caladesi Island is a treasure.

"Yesteryear, I lived in Paradise" is an absorbing true story that you can't put down. If you love animals, there are absolutely amazing encounters in these pages. I wished that the author could tell me more, I did not want the tales to end when the book did.

Informational story on the lives of those who lived on Caladesi Island in the late 1800's. Lots of history and you will enjoy this if you like to read about folks at the Turn of the Century.

If you like USA and Florida history and what it must have been like living here at the turn of last century, specially in an uninhabited island, this is a book for you. It was a page turner for me! I loved it! What an adventure. I was able to find it in the Caladesi Park.

L

If you like reading about old Florida then you will really like this book. Caldesi is still very wild and remote so it is not a far stretch to imagine how it must have been. And, one still has to travel there by boat so I think it will remain preserved for some time. I especially love how self sufficient and skilled the author became at a very young age as a result of her learning to live in harmony with nature and learning to sail and farm and fish practically as soon as she could walk. This book does ramble a bit and is not always chronological but it was still very enjoyable.

I visited Caledesi Island last month and the tour guide mentioned this book so I ordered it. I found it to be a semi interesting piece of fiction. A nine year old girl rowing a boat across those waters twice a day - um, I don't think so. Our tour boat operator had a time getting the boat over to the island and this little girl did it every day, twice a day? I also had the impression that she neither liked or respected her husband from the way she wrote about him. It came across more of a love story for her father and the island.

See if you can get your library to find you a copy before you buy it. Twenty dollars is nineteen dollars too much for this book.