CAPT. BEN MARLER, SR

 BACK COVER

Capt. Ben Marler Sr. unknowingly started an important industry in Destin in 1934: namely, fishing for hire. On day a fortuitous "party line" phone call from a hotelier in Ft. Walton Beach, Mrs. Bacon asked if a small group of her guests could accompany him in his small seine boat into the Gulf of Mexico to fish. The first wooden bridge had just been completed, and the lady at Bacon's by the Sea kept calling. And calling! Soon seeing the light, Ben dropped his backbreaking commercial nets and with his father William T. Marler, built a larger boat, The Plymouth. A fitting name. The next season, he "carried parties" to the incredibly rich fishing grounds off the sugar white sands of the hamlet whose name would soon become, The World's Luckiest Fishing Village.  His elder brother, Dave Marler and brother in law Nick Maltezo would soon join him with their own boats, and thus the fledgling party boat fishing fleet was born.  All the brothers, uncles, cousins and inlaws jumped in and became licensed Captains themselves or had restaurants, stores and motels, and in one way or another, the whole growing family, generation to generation catered to the new catch: TOURISTS.

This book was written by the little fella whom Ben carried in his arms as he built the Plymouth under the shade of a big oak tree in the backyard of his home on "the hill." The now-retired Capt. Ben Marler,  who no longer goes by his appendage," Jr." tells the best stories. It was also written by the little gals "Junior" later carried in turn around the fishing docks. Also memories from Athena's and Beth's mom, Joan Kitson Marler, who added work-a-day stamina booking parties and family fun to Capt. Ben Marler's Boat Service. All the remaining family, crew,  friends and customers who remember, "The good old days," are remembered, as they were a huge part of it all. Capt. Ben Marler, Sr.'s late wife, Cleo Maltezo Marler whose Greek father, John George Maltezos, hand built nearly every boat in Destin, was often spoken of by Ben reverently; "Without Cleo, I wouldn't have a thing."

Now is the time to remember Capt. Ben Marler, or "Sr.", as crew called him, and to write his book peering through the salt spray crusted binoculars of time on his life, bringing the distant past into focus today. We wish we had sooner! As lifelong, beloved deckhand Charlie Brown would say, "It's about time."