|
Presents BUILDERS OF TORTOLA |
Robb White My project "Building the Wave" began in 1988 soon after I moved to the (British) Virgin Islands. Inevitably this meant that some of the people who would fall into my category of ‘builders before the wave’ were no longer available for interview because for a number of reasons. Once such person was Robb White, who died in 1990. In such cases I have endeavoured, for the sake of completeness, to include something about these people.
From:
http://www.literalmedia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=83
Robb White was an extraordinary man who led an adventurous life most people only dream of. He was born in the Philippines, the son of missionaries, became a highly decorated U.S. Navy lieutenant commander in World War II, serving in submarines, aircraft carriers, battleships, sailboats and (once) a rubber life raft, and an adventurous explorer who traveled from the mountains of Kurdistan to the beaches of the South Pacific. The Whites spent three years (1937-39?) on Marina Cay, an eight-acre island near Tortola in the British Virgin Islands that they bought for $60, hacking a cistern out of the rough, rocky land and shipping in enough concrete to build a small, sturdy house. These adventurous years – during which the couple weathered a typhoon, fended off Nazis, aided Jewish refugees, and survived a surprise a visit from White’s mother-in-law, are described in three books of memoirs: In Privateer’s Bay (1939), Our Virgin Island (1953), and Two on the Isle (1985).
For further information, see, for instance:
Draft of February 22nd, 2010
Builders of Tortola Guide