Scrounging the Islands with the Legendary Don the Beachcomber

Book excerpt: Scrounging the Islands with the Legendary Don the Beachcomber is the life story of the man who created the Mai Tai and more than ninety other original tropical rum drinks. He started the Tiki culture, and his fame as a restaurateur, entrepreneur and business man eventually grew to international proportions. Often thought of as no more than a fictional character by those who never met him, syndicated columnist Jim Bishop wrote: There was and still is a drawing of Don the Beachcomber on the menu cover. A mustached man wearing a battered woven hat. Staring out at the farthest horizons. I never dreamed there was a real Don the Beachcomber. Just a drawing I thought. Then at Suva, on the far side of Fiji, the drawing came to life. Don stepped off an old prop passenger plane. The hat was the same. So were the mustache and quick black eyes.