Lee Flandreau
Author
Born in Boston, Lee Flandreau grew up in and around the Cincinnati area, mostly in the rural area of Clermont County. There he rode horses, roamed the woods with his dog, shot squirrels with his .22 single-shot rifle, and collected local snakes and turtles. He attended Withrow high School in Cincinnati and played three sports, was co-captain of the football team, and made All State at guard.
Lee attended Miami University in Oxford Ohio, and graduated with a degree in Arts and Science, majoring in geology. He played both football and baseball at Miami and was a member of Sigma Chi. He has always had an interest in history, primarily the Civil War.
His career in business was with Signode Corporation, a world leader in the manufacture of industrial packaging and handling equipment for heavy industry as well as steel and plastic materials. He spent his last fourteen years in the foreign operations as Executive Vice President and COO, International. Since retiring he has enjoyed boating, fishing, hunting, African safaris, and writing.
His first book was The Star Across the Bay the unusual history of Windstar on Naples Bay and the development of Bayshore in S.E. Naples.
Recent Book Release
Available for Purchase
The Amazon and its vast unknowns also appealed to his sense of adventure. He found that his friend, Bill Lutz, had similar fascinations, and Bill and Lee researched a private tour of Amazonia, to begin in Puerto Maldonado, Peru – a town they could find on few maps.
But once they arrived in Lima and flew over the Andes Mountains to this pioneer town, adventure quickly morphed into a doubtful and dangerous trip. Nothing was as expected. The town had no electricity, dirt roads, their American guide canceled, the two native guides did not speak English and only poor Spanish. Their tour boat turned out to be a home-built canoe with a 15 HP motor with a small prop turning at the end of a long shaft out the stern. Natives called these boats “peke peke” from the sound they make.
After two weeks of going downstream in the thick jungle on the muddy Madre de Dios River and reaching the tributary Heath River border of Bolivia, the guide ignored Lee’s order to return and continued going up the Heath. When they realized it was the wrong river, they turned around. The return was longer and more hazardous, and they were out of provisions, existing only on Piranha fish filets, Brazil nuts and boiled muddy river water. Throughout it all, Lee’s sense of humor made their dire dilemma seem almost comical. But it couldn’t save them.
Even limping back into Puerto Maldonado, soaked with rain, was no guarantee of returning to civilization. There were no roads over the Andes and the airstrip gouged out of the jungle offered no flights. Did this entrapment really mean there was NO WAY OUT?
Past Book Release
A Windstar was the compass of the ancient seafarers before the introduction of the magnetic needle. Similar to the early Greek compass, the Italian version had eight points named for the prevailing winds which blew from the various countries around the Mediterranean. Apparently, the mariners of that time established their bearings by recognizing the characteristics of winds from different directions and by association with the sun by day and the star Polaris by night. Hence the name Windstar.
Modeled on that ancient compass, the Windstar logo is an appropriate symbol for this water-oriented paradise. Just as the original Windstar guided early mariners to their destination, this modern version was designed to guide potential residents to this elegant and exclusive community on Naples Bay.