When I started working as the Assistant Manager of the Walden Book Store in the near west Chicago suburb of North Riverside back in 1976, I found out that one of the benefits of the job was that I could rip the cover off any paperback book I wanted and take it home to read. My father recommended the Travis McGee mystery novels by John D. McDonald, a series which took place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and after reading just one, I was hooked, and read every one of them. I then waited until each new Travis McGee mystery came out,.and immediately bought and devoured it. That is why I was so thrilled to have my picture taken by my sister Susan at the Travis McGee memorial plaque next to Slip F18 at Fort Lauderdale's Bahia Mar Marina. This was the fictional location of Travis McGee's houseboat, and I searched it out after Susan, my mother Mary, and I finished a cruise on The Jungle Queen, a well known local tourist boat that cruises the New River. When I retire, perhaps I'll give in to my fantasy and imitate Travis McGee's lifestyle - living on a houseboat by the beach, going out on various adventures in South Florida, and saving various damsels in distress. That sounds like a reasonable retirement goal, right? Right?
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