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The Many Mizners: An Autobiography
Remember, there were no maps, no travelogues, or any data whatsoever on this land that God and man had forgotten.
Born into an extraordinary family clan, this is the breathless, picaresque memoir of Addison the great architect of Palm Beach, and other spots on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Following his early family life in affluent, late nineteenth-century California, we join the exploits of the intrepid young Addison – by the author’s account the most remarkable figure of his age. We hear of his experiences in central America, then his truly hair-raising work as a gold prospector in the Yukon, where he becomes an unwitting midwife, and has to foil a murder plot against himself. He details further adventures in Hawaii, and ends up in the boxing ring in Australia, escaping via China.
When Addison finally arrives in New York, we see a more recognizable individual, re-entering the society life he was born to. All along we see his eye for detail and an obvious flair for design and architecture, something exploited wherever he happens to be, whether in Palm Beach or the Yukon.
Only in the touching last chapter, detailing the hilarious final months of his mother’s life, does he perhaps realize what it means to be a “Mizner”.
Born into an extraordinary family clan, this is the breathless, picaresque memoir of Addison the great architect of Palm Beach, and other spots on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Following his early family life in affluent, late nineteenth-century California, we join the exploits of the intrepid young Addison – by the author’s account the most remarkable figure of his age. We hear of his experiences in central America, then his truly hair-raising work as a gold prospector in the Yukon, where he becomes an unwitting midwife, and has to foil a murder plot against himself. He details further adventures in Hawaii, and ends up in the boxing ring in Australia, escaping via China.
When Addison finally arrives in New York, we see a more recognizable individual, re-entering the society life he was born to. All along we see his eye for detail and an obvious flair for design and architecture, something exploited wherever he happens to be, whether in Palm Beach or the Yukon.
Only in the touching last chapter, detailing the hilarious final months of his mother’s life, does he perhaps realize what it means to be a “Mizner”.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 4, 2019
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July 24, 2020
A local Bay Area celebrity from the early days of the 20th century. He was involved with the Alaskan Gold Rush, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and lived in NYC in the last part of the 19th century. His writing style is a bit too casual. He presumes you don't need introduction to family members and people he meets. Very scattered narrative. If you're Mizner you'll enjoy it. If not, you're lost.
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