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Overview
The beginning chapters reveal that Ann was programmed from birth to march to the beat of a different drum. She was the only child of neurotic parents and it was not in her nature to follow the herd. Married at eighteen to a prominent drug store magnate twice her age, she finds herself, at the age of twenty-two, a widow. From her sudden dramatic exposure to a life of opulent wealth and world travels, Ann and her second husband settled down to build an exclusive out-island scuba diving resort in the Bahamas, which attracted the rich and famous. As a self-appointed, liberated female the adventures do not stop there. Join in Ann's kaleidoscopic journey down one of life's most unusual paths and her ability to "make things happen." Ann's story is bursting with romance, adventure, mystery, celebrities, substance abuse, and much more!
About the Author:
Ann Lloyd was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and raised in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She was
the only child of a professor of Germanic languages at Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) and of an artist. Ann has three children, nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. She currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida.
Reviews:
Lloyd's unconventional memoir is told with gusto and packed with honest, entertaining episodes. Raised by "intense and neurotic" parents, the quirky narrator with a "mind and a will of [her] own" endures a lonely childhood and tumbles through her colorful life. But the onset of an autoimmune disease changes everything and forces Lloyd to remake her life yet again.
Publishers Weekly
A romping, vivacious memoir covering eight decades of one woman's peripatetic existence that reads as though Katherine Hepburn was dropped into one of Hunter S. Thompson's fever dreams.
From the moment Lloyd thwarts her father's plans to send her to a staid, prim private school for young ladies, the author twists, turns and swivels through marriages, children and countless parties, alongside battles with alcoholism, illness and disappointment.
Lloyd promptly enters into her second marriage and bankrolls her new husband's many failing businesses until they discover Spanish Wells, an island in the Bahamas where the couple opens a scuba resort they successfully helm for 15 years – until tragedy strikes again.
It's at this turn that Lloyd embarks on perhaps the most challenging part of her life as she faces down illness, her long-standing alcoholism and the volatility of love. The author's tone is infectious – the reader can't help but be carried along with the swell. The story crisply refuses to draw a conclusion about the ranging life its protagonist has led, leaving us to revel in the sooty side of bad decisions and the punchy highs brought on by hard-won redemption.
A survivor's story that sometimes buckles under its loquacious tendencies yet reveals a one-of-a-kind life bound together by abandon, resilience and pure fun.
Kirkus Reviews
Ann Lloyd, shares her story well and leaves readers with humor and a strong message. "Vodka On My Wheaties" is an excellent read, a fine addition to any memoir collection.
The Midwest Book Review
Ann Lloyd has surely endured a complicated life, which is detailed in her tangled but engaging memoir... At the end of a series of adventures, Lloyd is rescued from pills and booze by a twelve-step program, only to find that the years of abuse and neglect have caused her body to rebel against everyday chemicals, eventually leading her to the safety of the porcelain trailer.
Lloyd rose from the ashes of her own fires – gives her story its undeniable flair – filled with a blizzard of bizarrely entertaining events and many, many dropped names.
Blue Ink Review
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940011268571 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | John Guevin |
| Publication date: | 03/19/2011 |
| Sold by: | Smashwords |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 560 KB |
About the Author
After being widowed by a well-known Cleveland socialite, Ann Lloyd continued a journey with world travel escapades. In the early 1950’s she and her second husband were disillusioned with the decadent social scene, ventured out and discovered the tiny, rarely traveled “Lost Island of the Caribbean.” Within six months we had completely packed up, with our three young children, leaving the old life and friends behind in Ohio, to pioneer a completely new world in the Bahamas. The scuba diving resort that we built and managed for fifteen years became quite well known. Widowed a second time after her husband’s fatal plane crash, she moved to Florida. Here the saga continued with the third husband, the purchase of a new tavern business, and bouts with substance abuse. After six years of sobriety, thanks to a Twelve Step program, she had a complete personality change which enabled her to face a bizarre illness with a positive approach towards healing. This was not the end of her life but a new beginning from which she gained much knowledge about herself, and finally the spiritual growth to continue with a happy and peaceful life. Through those years of recovering with her intuition more finely tuned, she recorded even more intense observations and amazing insights during encounters with unusual humans and animals.