Remembering the Way It Was

An Olio of Untold Tales

By: Don Betts

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

This book is the biography of a remarkable man named Don Betts. He is a walking, talking encyclopedia of Florida culture. He has delighted his friends with descriptions of life in Florida during his first 40 years of life. That was back when the area of present-day Sarasota County and Manatee County had a lot of land that was still pristine Floridian. Lots of swamps, freely running creeks and a lightly developed Gulf Coast. Residents could harvest from the Gulf of Mexico such seafood delights as scallops, mullet, and shrimp. Or they could fish the inland waters for a countless variety of freshwater fish, or maybe hunt for frogs, coyotes, bobcats, quail, black bear and an occasional panther.Don Betts tells how he was born at just the right time and in just the right place to be able to enjoy the good life as Tarzan of his own jungle and Lord of his nearly deserted far south end of Longboat Key. His father, George Betts, was personally chosen by circus king John Ringling to be his Chief Horticulturist. George tended and expanded the Ringling nursery on the Sarasota Bay side of far south Longboat Key. Then he transplanted both native and exotic species for projects ranging from Mabel Ringling’s famous Rose Garden to the grounds of their mansion and to the Ringling Museum of Art. Don tells us how he tagged along with his dad, sometimes even helping him. And how, in the process, he met many of the Circus performers and most of the other employees. Now countless others will have the opportunity to read his wise, and witty lines and those, well, sometimes puzzling big words. He became a poet after age 80, but some of his poems are masterpieces. He and Stan Paregien did a joint book (and eBook) titled, Partners in Rhyme (2020). Please understand that this book is not sequential or chronological. It is a rare look at Florida life caught in snapshots. Starting after he turned 80, he entered different – and often unconnected – memories about his unusual life. He served in the U.S. Navy, worked as a police officer and then as a Park Ranger, rose to Vice President of a bank, and also became a successful insurance agent and part-time farmer. He was helped along the way by his wife, Judy Duke Betts . They now live in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.