The Palm Beach Palace

About the Book

When Leslie Harper decided to become a resident of the Palm Beach Palace Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, she had no idea how her life would change. Leslie Harper had lost her husband, and soon she found that her big house was too large for one person. She decided to look into the Palm Beach Palace, a hotel catering mostly to seniors, which she had passed many times but had never entered. She made an appointment to see what it was like and how much she really liked the idea of being with people who, like herself, wanted their privacy. But when she wanted the pleasure of being with other people, then she was ready to mix with company. She entered the building and found it to be what she expected. It would be quite manageable. And she knew that if she wanted to be private, she could retreat to her apartment. On the other hand, if she wanted to be with people, she could go downstairs and see others like herself, where she could carry on with the other residents. So she signed a year’s lease. As soon as she packed her belongings and moved in, she found that she had done the right thing. Yes, indeed, she had done the right thing.

About the Author

A phone and a typewriter were all Estelle Craig needed to start what turned out to be a lifetime of fun and meeting famous people, from a prime minister of England to a mountain climber, Sir Edmund Hillary. Changing diapers and booking celebrities at the same time, she created and directed World Adventure Tours for forty-one years. Evening gowns were Estelle’s working clothes when she appeared on the stage to introduce the artist of the evening. As many shows were sold out, armchair travellers subscribed to the series year after year. Estelle wrote travel articles, interviewed people for the CBC broadcasting network in Canada, published a national magazine, Small Types for children and satisfied her hunger for travel by escorting people on trips around the world. Estelle became the President of the Toronto Women’s Variety Club and Press Club. At the same time, she raised three children and ran a household for the family. When Estelle decided it was time to turn to other ventures, she received an offer to sell World Adventure Tours. At Ryerson University, in Toronto, she discovered Act II Studio and auditioned and appeared in plays. She has written several plays, which were produced by Act II Studio. She has also written a newspaper column, radio scripts, and published three autobiographical books. Her special delights are music, the theatre, her grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren, and the untold mysteries and wonders that tomorrow might bring. After the age of 100, Estelle wrote The Pelicans of Palm Beach and The House That Swam. At the age of 103 Estelle Craig has written Barry Weds Minnie.