Please join Charlie and me in Beaufort this Wednesday, July 27, 2016 from 4:00p.m. to 6:00 p.m at Nevermore Books.
Book Signing with the Author, Charlie Ryan.
Father's Day Gift
This is the perfect gift. Anytime. Absolutely.
My Life with Charles Fraser
My Life with Charles Fraser
Written by Editor, Margaret Evans of Lowcountry Weekly
The life of Charles Fraser, the iconic developer of Sea Pines Plantation, Amelia Island, Kiawah and Palmas del Mar resorts, can only fully be told by following the stunning career paths of the young professionals he embraced and nurtured.
My Life with Charles Fraser by Hilton Head Island author Charlie Ryan and publisher Pamela Ovens is an important history of the young MBAs of the 1960s and 1970s that Charles Fraser recruited from Harvard, Yale, Wharton, the University of Chicago, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Pennsylvania. The book records in lively manner their desire to lean and build on the shores of the Atlantic. Forsaking well-worn paths into finance and traditional real estate, they hitched their wagons to the unconventional dreams of Charles Fraser.
Over a period of a year and a half, author Ryan interviewed not only the MBAs who worked for Fraser, but an assortment of professionals working in architecture, literature, entertainment and retail development. In all, 42 individuals who worked with or were closely associated with Fraser told their stories. Those interviewed remember Fraser and their time on Hilton Head as the bedrock of their careers—careers that have changed the face of real estate development and land management in the United States.
The book follows the newly minted MBAs and other close associates of Fraser as they arrived on the shores of an island known by only a few. They embraced Fraser’s insistence that man and nature could co-exist, and together they built a new model for seaside resorts—a model that was governed by land covenants that preserved beachfront property even as rows of homes with common beach access were built.
Ed Pinckney, a celebrated landscape architect of the Lowcountry, was drawn to Hilton Head by what he called Fraser’s “Oasis of contemporary architecture.” In the book, Pinckney remembers Fraser’s audacity: “Charles found a path through thick palmettos, pulled heavy foliage to the side, and allowed us to look over Calibogue Sound. He turned to us and said, ‘I’m going to build a town right there.’ And, by George, he did; he built Harbour Town in 1968-1969 right on that spot.”
In 1971 Peter Rummell was a young MBA from Wharton who saw genius in Charles Fraser. The Rummell chapter of My Life with Charles Fraser describes an adventurous time. “Fraser flew at 50,000 feet and God help you when he came in for a landing,” Rummell says. Rummell began his years with Fraser on what was then remote Hilton Head Island—he recalls that he saw “A half mile from the William Hilton Inn this guy plowing oceanfront real estate with a mule. I thought to myself, ‘You know, that’s not a good sign.’
Those who worked with Fraser saw him boldly and brashly chart new territory by building championship golf courses that created prime property throughout his Plantation—property that soared in value not because of its proximity to a beach but because it was snuggled into beautiful fairways and greens of a growing national sport. The innovations were radical in the 60s and so successful they were copied by most every other beach resort in the country.
Iconic golf course designers Pete and Alice Dye and golf legends Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus tell their stories in chapters devoted to Fraser’s prescience that golf would draw both visitors and those who wished to live on an island that offered a paradise of golf venues. Alice Dye reveals in the book that PGA Commissioner Joe Dey asked on the eve of the first Heritage Tournament that Pete assure him sand had been placed in the bunkers of the Harbour Town course for at least six months. “Pete said, ‘Sure, Joe.’ Well, we had not even built the bunkers, let alone put sand in them,” Alice said.
Phil Lader was a Fraser disciple who went on to a distinguished career in Washington and later became the Ambassador to the Court of St. James. In the book’s chapter dealing with Lader’s life with Charles, Lader recalls, “He could be irascible. Those of us who worked for him witnessed the limits of his patience, but also the twinkle in his eye.” Lader relates that, “Charles was a curious blend of erudition, abandon, tenacity, impatience, entrepreneurial nimbleness, and personal aloofness.”
The saga of Fraser is told abundantly and emotionally in My Life with Charles Fraser. Those who lived life with the truly exceptional visionary paint a vibrant portrait of the man that changed the world of resort living and carved for himself a place in the history of land management and environmental protection.
My Life with Charles Frasier is available at Island Bookstores and www.singlestar.us.
Press
Book signing at Pretty Papers & The Store in Bluffton
Wednesday, May 18, 2016, we had a book signing at Pretty Papers in the Village at Wexford. It was so much fun meeting old friends and working with Gene Arrington of Pretty Papers. We had a book signing at Babbie Guscio's The Store in Bluffton on May 26, 1026. Ed Pinckney and Doug Corkern, both architects and both chapters in the book signed copies and spent the afternoon reminiscing about their friend Charles Fraser with old friends. It was a great day!
My Life with Charles Fraser
My Life with Charles Fraser is out and it is fabulous! You will want to read this book to understand Hilton Head Island and the people who shaped this island.
The book launch was a HUGE success and Charlie Ryan spoke before an audience of 250 people at the Sea Pines Country Club two days after the launch which was May 10, 2016.
Charlie Ryan and Pamela Martin Ovens at Sea Pines Country Club on May 12, 2016.
My Life with Charles Fraser
I am publishing a new book, My Life with Charles Fraser, which will be out this spring. It is a compilation of interviews with people who worked with, and were close to the man who designed and created Hilton Head Island as it is today. My friend, Charlie Ryan, is interviewing all the participants in the book. It has been an amazing journey. My husband, Peter, and I have had this dream for many years and it is finally coming to fruition. I will have more on this in a few days.
Book Signing for The Pullman Hilton
Charlie Ryan will be at the Beaufort Library, 311 Scott Street in downtown Beaufort, Saturday, December 20, 2014 to autograph copies of his book, The Pullman Hilton. The Beaufort Railroaders will host their annual train exhibit at the library. It should be fun for the entire family.
Remember I am at the Lowcountry Produce Sea Pines Farmers Market on Tuesdays through the end of December, 2014. Please stop in between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Charlie Ryan on far left (stage right) and his friends.
Books are Here and are For Sale Now!
The books arrived last night and they are beautiful! You can order your copy under the heading Books.
Voice Over Audition
Charlie Ryan called me several weeks ago and asked if I would consider publishing his latest novel, The Pullman Hilton. The photo of the cover at the bottom of this post is the result of our collaboration. Charlie enjoys writing and it shows. His work is great! The book will fill you with the wonder of the season and the importance of friends and family.
The Pullman Hilton is a Christmas Mystery that is a fast moving winter's tale that centers on the escapades of seven youngsters as they seek adventure and encounter mystery and the unknown during a Depression-era Christmas.
They explore a Pullman car graveyard with over 200 abandoned wooden railroad cars. This graveyard holds the allure of the unknown, desperate hoboes and, perhaps, hidden treasure.
The seven, "The Maple Avenue Gang," come face to face with two hoboes and a mysterious figure who comes and goes—is he a ghost, spirit—good or evil?
You will want to order this book in time for the Holidays.
Book Publishing
Charlie Ryan called me several weeks ago and asked if I would consider publishing his latest novel, The Pullman Hilton. The photo of the cover at the bottom of this post is the result of our collaboration. Charlie enjoys writing and it shows. His work is great! The book will fill you with the wonder of the season and the importance of friends and family.
The Pullman Hilton is a Christmas Mystery that is a fast moving winter's tale that centers on the escapades of seven youngsters as they seek adventure and encounter mystery and the unknown during a Depression-era Christmas.
They explore a Pullman car graveyard with over 200 abandoned wooden railroad cars. This graveyard holds the allure of the unknown, desperate hoboes and, perhaps, hidden treasure.
The seven, "The Maple Avenue Gang," come face to face with two hoboes and a mysterious figure who comes and goes—is he a ghost, spirit—good or evil?
You will want to order this book in time for the Holidays.
Demo CD
I have been working on the copy for a demo CD that you will be able to access from this site. I hope to have it available in the near future.
Today I have been working with my friend, Charlie Ryan, on his new book. He has written a book for young people that is very good mystery. The characters are well drawn and the setting is perfect: a lot of the action takes place in an old abandoned pullman train yard. It is interesting because Charlie's father and grandfather were engineers for B & O Railroad. I plan to help him publish this book so that he can sell it for Christmas. The title is The Pullman Hilton: A Christmas Adventure. It has all the twists and turns a good mystery should have including colorful characters and a few surprises.
Charlie Ryan is an entrepreneur who founded and sold four marketing firms over 32 years. He began his career as a television anchor in my home town of Charleston, West Virginia. He hired my mother, Jane Martin, when she did the weather for WCHS-TV. My father, Doug Martin, worked for Charlie as a theatre and movie critic at the same station a few years later. My family especially loved the story Charlie did on the "Moth Man Myth." Their photos are here.
My mother, Jane Martin when she was a weather girl at WCHS-TV in Charleston, WV.
My father, Doug Martin and author, Charlie Ryan.
Work
It is work trying to build this web site. Frustration is actually the only thing that I am building right now. I had a contact page and it disappeared. I am certain of this because it was there and then it was not there. I cannot find it anywhere. I also tried to upload a chart of the island and it also disappeared. Perhaps the contact page and the chart are together. We shall see.
Background
I have a long history in this business. I began at a very small radio station in Charleston, West Virginia. I should say two stations, WTIP AM and WTIO FM. The General Manager was Mel Burka and his brother, Bud Burka, was head of Sales. Bud's daughter, Pat, married my brother, David, many years later. While there I had the opportunity to interview Julia Child about her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julia and her husband, Paul, came for the interview. They both came into the studio for the program, which was one of the first in my life. I was probably terrible, but years later when at WCET-TV, I got to meet Julia, again. She entered the studio and said, "Hello Pamela." So, I was found out. She had an amazing memory and I treasure a card she sent me that I keep in a frame in my kitchen.
I then worked for many years in Cincinnati, Ohio for WLW Radio and WCET Television. At WLW I wrote copy and voiced commercials on one of the seven largest clear channel radio stations in the country. WCET Television hired me as a station announcer. I was the first female announcer on television in Cincinnati. Three months later all the stations had a female announcer. I worked with some amazing people at WCET, the most memorable being Jeff Heusser. He was a director and producer and a joy to work with. He is now working for his own company in California. He is a visual effects artist for Feature Films and Commercials. He is also co-founder of the leading industry web site fxguide.com. Thank you, Jeff, for making work more fun and far more entertaining than people should be allowed to enjoy.
When I came to Hilton Head Island I wrote copy and recorded commercials for Radio Station WHHR. Later, I had my own program from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It was a joyful time and I met a favorite person, Scott Elliott. He was a wonderful producer and friend.
Later, my husband, Peter, and I bought a 62' Concordia yacht called "Welcome". I had to get my Master Near Coastal license to operate the boat because Peter was still a Canadian citizen at the time. We chartered her from Shelter Cove Harbour for 16 years. She is a beautiful sailing yacht and we loved her. After we sold her, we bought a lovely little Herreshoff Eagle that we named "Single Star". We sold her, too, but I loved the name and we kept it. Now, I am beginning a new venture and I look forward to smooth sailing and following seas.
