David Futch just released his new book Historic Tales of Gasparilla Island, published by Arcadia Publishing. Natural beauty and the sportfishing life brought the Cabots, Vanderbilts, and Du Ponts to this island paradise, where local fishing families danced, ate, and drank with the rich and famous at their castles on the beach. As the wealthy played, they relied on locals for everything from fishing charters to literally laundering and ironing their money.
