The Florida Keys: The wreckers

Book excerpt: Today, on the Keys between Key West and the mainland, some forty thousand residents and thousands of visitors fish, swim, sail and dive int he crystal clear waters off a tropical reef; relax in the sun adn cooling trade wind breezes; and sleep in the air-conditioned comfort of their homes and hotel rooms. On these same islands, as short a time as eighty years ago, fewer than three hundred inhabitants tried to eke out a living without benefit of electricity, running water, radios, or telephones. The stories of these hard pioneers and their predecessors, as far back as the Native Americans who lived on the Keys at least one thousand years ago, are told, many for the first time, in this book.