Once, Destin Florida's fishing boats were painstakingly handmade, built in captain's back yards, their primitive engines pieced together from automobile motors. Unbelievably plentiful schools of fish "fathomed out" and snared in seines. Fishing grounds then could be found by nothing more than dead reckoning, timed by a wind up watch, a compass, and the clouds and shore trees. A quiet life began in this particular spot, before the Civil War. But, in 1934, Destin was building a bridge, future WWII pilots were in training, and less than a handful of hardworking fishermen were feeding multitudes of civilians from a tiny fishing village known as Destin. Life was not easy, but it was satisfying and adventurous. Cut off from mass communications with the rest of the world with nothing but a bridge and not a single telephone or electric light, Destin managed to grow from a remote paradise to a resort area which attracts millions of visitors from all around the world. One of Destin's foremost and memorable captains, a fish-catcher and evangelist, opens his families' most cherished albums to share pages from Destin's history in the previous century, with photos dating back to 1900. You'll almost smell the kerosene and seagrasses and count the six lonely blinking bridge lights. Capt. Ben seats us around his knees like grandchildren to retell the stories, impressions, and descriptions of a small boy's everyday life in Destin, Florida, actually, its' only boy born there in 1938. Part Tom Sawyer, Part Leave it To Beaver, with a touch of Old Glory and deep reverence for God, Old Destin Through the Eyes of a Child will be a certain welcome addition to museums and school libraries as well as to those armchair history buffs who can't get enough of Florida's rich history or who love Destin, Florida. 249 pages. 100+ Photos.
About the Author: Capt. Ben Marler and his loving wife, Joan, are retired from fishing and from running his family's 65 year boat business where he was born in Destin, Florida. With a lifetime on the water and 20 years of captaining under his belt since his father's death in 1970, he knows more about fishing than most because "they used to do it the hard way." Even at 73, he is still active in his community, having started the Destin Ministerial Association in his home in the mid 1970s, he speaks to everyone he meets about Jesus. Often he'll includes a gift of cleaned fish from his cast net. He also writes a daily devotional posting on facebook and twitter, as well as a daily Christian journal called "I AM NOT ASHAMED OF JESUS" at google blogspot. When not sharing on social networks or face to face, he is sending emails across the globe to pastors, evangelists and missionaries. A 1963 graduate of FSU with his wife, he remains a big fan of Seminole football. His degree was in business management while hers was in education. She edits his writings for him, and he calls her "the best wife in the world." He doesn't plan for them to die. He says they are merely "going up" when Jesus comes back, which he points out "could be any day." When signing his name, he draws two his ichthus Christian fish symbols pointed on an upward trajectory. Capt. Ben and Joan live on the water in beautiful Destin, Florida to be near their growing "tribe" which consists of daughters, sons in law, and "grandyounguns and great grandyounguns." His first published book, "Old Destin Through the Eyes of a Child" is available on Amazon.com and Createspace Direct.