The Reluctant Tuscan - Phil Doran

Rising From The Mist in the sun-blushed hills of Tuscany is Il Piccolo Rustico, a 300-year-old stone farmhouse that Nancy Doran dreams of lovingly restoring into an idlyllic home. All her husband Phil can see is a crumbling money pit that, as far as dreams go, is more of a nightmare. Reluctantly leaving behind high -octane, air-conditioned Los Angeles where he lives and works as a writer-producer, Phil is uprooted to a strange country intoxicated by O sole mio, virgin olive oil and oak-aged Chianti. The local village reveals itself to be a hive of seething passions, secrets and age-old blood feuds, and the newcomers find that life is not all strolls around town during the passagiato and relaxing under the awnings of picturesque cafes. Beset by a rift of exasperating challenges - from the cunning tricks of the Pinatore family to an infuriating Byzantine Italian bureaucracy - it is only with an inspired touch of the 'Inner Italian' that Phil and Nancy finally manage to soften the hearts of their neighbours and are embraced by the community (bron: bol.com)

One of the canals in Delft!

Grey heron!

and other birds!

Robert Dean Frisbie!

His travel stories have survived to this day of great value. They contain detailed descriptions and adventurous about life in Polynesia and in particular the Cook Islands. His work is characterized by his passionate quest for solitude. The following books are under his name in print:

Zijn reisverhalen zijn tot op de dag van vandaag van grote waarde. Ze bevatten gedetailleerde en avontuurlijke beschrijvingen over het leven in Polynesië en in het bijzonder op de Cookeilanden. Zijn werk wordt gekenmerkt door zijn gepassioneerde zoektocht naar eenzaamheid. De volgende boeken zijn onder zijn naam in druk verschenen:

The Book of Puka-Puka (A Lone Trader On A South Sea Atoll) (1929)
The Ghost of Alexander Perks, A.B. (1931)
A Copra Island (1932)
My Tahiti (1937)
Mr. Moonlight's Island (1939)
The Island of Desire (The Story of a South Sea Trader) (1944)
Amaru: A Romance of the South Seas (1945)
Dawn Sails North (1949)

Books of his daughter Florence (Johnny) Frisbie:

Amazing book!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge!

  

What if you slept

And what if

In your sleep

You dreamed

And what if

In your dream

You went to heaven

And there plucked a strange and beautiful flower

And what if

When you awoke

You had that flower in your hand

Ah, what then?

Souvenirs Delft!