People ask me why I used the real place of Boca Grande as the setting for my books. Simple: I know it and l love it. No other place was even a close second.

I know, I know, I left there to have a mountain house, but that's another story. Basically, I'm a tropical kind of guy. Warmth, a salty breeze, and a good rum drink are things from which I don't want to stray too far. So what's the big deal about this Boca Grande?

Well, first, it's a village on a Southwest Florida island. And Gasparilla Island was named after a pirate who roamed the area waters many years ago. How cool is that? (Don't tell anyone else, but Jose Gaspar's actual existence has yet to be substantiated, but, hey, I'm in the fiction business; I'm good with it).

Notwithstanding when the Calusa Indians were in the area (read Boca Moon and learn more about that), Boca Grande was settled as a fishing village by the Padilla family. It stayed that way until the phosphate companies built a railroad bridge to Gasparilla Island and a loading dock for ships at the natural seventy foot deep Boca Grande Pass. That changed everything. Rich folks from up north made "Boca" (the real Boca) their winter playground, arriving on their private rail cars. Later, they build walled estates, and in the late fifties a causeway was built, and regular working folks like me who could afford second homes became weekend recreational fishermen.

Fishing? People still come from all over the world for the tarpon fishing. And the back bay fishing for snook and redfish has drawn hordes. But that's only a part of the attraction.

A walk or bike ride almost anywhere in Boca Grande is a visual smorgasbord. Accordingly, the island is an artist colony, home to masters like Jane Carlson, Wini Smart, Midge Callahan and many others who harvest a bounty of subjects. Things like the old marinas, pink gas pumps, Banyan Street, a hundred year old lighthouse (see my home page), and sea scenes which could keep a painter or photographer busy for a lifetime.

That's not to mention the hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillaea, gumbo limbo, seagrape and, of course, what made the national news, the colony of iguanas. And what other place has streets named Damficare, Damfino, and Damfiwill?

Boca Grande has had its share of characters from all the socio-economic strata. But I must say, I have juiced the Boca Moon characters a little and imbued them with the salty, tropical ways of island living. I hope you enjoy them, and I hope you enjoy the way I have described Boca Grande. Particularly if you know it and love it as I do.