Nani Lanai circa 1968

Palm Beach Post Sunday, August 18, 1968
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19680818&id=5D9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pTINAAAAIBAJ&pg=4035,5932220

Wow...nice. Wonder if they ever got to take the Polynesian dream vacation.

Very Nice!!

Is it wrong of me to want to know more about people like this? Who were they? What made them tick?

"Charles Bisol was the eighth child of a family of ten. He was born on August 18, 1924 in Leominster, Massachusetts.His parents were from Italy and spoke only Italian when they came to America. He attended a Catholic school which was run by French Nuns and he was basically taught French as the nuns pretty much spoke only French. As a child he was speaking three languages; Italian, French and English.During the Great Depression, he had a part time job at the age of ten to help his large family survive. Most times he was working and unable to go to school, like so many children during this horrible time.Charles worked until he was eighteen, which is when he was drafted into the U.S. Army as the United States of America had gone to war. He was sent to Europe where he fought in WWII driving a two and a half ton truck. He was wounded and survived The Battle of the Bulge and served his country for over two years.After the war, he married his beautiful wife, Jewel and had three wonderful children. He is now almost 90 years old and lives in Lake Park, Florida. A few years ago he was finally diagnosed with PTSD and is now recovering from it. He recently wrote this book to try to help others and Life is Good."

In 2008 he received the French Legion of Honor medal for his service to France during WWII. Wrote a book in 2014 entitled "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd) Begins with a Bang" He would now be 91 years old

Cool! Leominster is just a stone's throw from me.

March 17, 2015

Charles A. Bisol 90, long time resident of Lake Park, Florida, still resides in the house that once featured his Polynesian inspired "Nani Lanai" backyard that was detailed in an August 18, 1968 article in the Palm beach Post newspaper. That date just happened to coincide with his birthday.

"The Mai Kai was the inspiration. I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, and used to go there a lot and really enjoyed it, so when I moved here I wanted my own south seas paradise," Bisol said.

After the article, "people would come out by the thousands, maybe hundreds, and look at what I had built," he said. Bisol noted that the article helped generate some business and he replicated the tiki-strewn tropical look for seven other clients. He retired from construction and home maintenance six years ago.

Bisol no longer has any vestiges of his Nani Lanai. "The whole thing died down a few years after the article." The article also alerted the local municipal code enforcement officials about his project. He admitted nothing was permitted, and about two years after the 1968 article he took everything down.

"They said the thatch was a fire hazard." He went on to say he had been contacted by people in Alabama who wanted to build a Polynesian themed restaurant. "They came down here with a big truck and bought every single tiki God I had."

Asked if he and his wife ever made the trip to the south seas, he said he remains fascinated by the idea, but as of now he has not ventured to the places that fueled his dreams nearly fifty years earlier.

NEAT! Even with the decline of Tiki culture in the late 1960's Mr. Bisol's Tiki work was foreshadowing what would come decades later in the Tiki Revival.

Being a former resident of the Lake Park/North Palm Beach area (still work there...long commute), I had looked up Mr. Bicol on the 'net. I had found his address and the book that Mike refereed to. I had given it some thought to stop by his place and talk to him...see if anything remained, but he being 90....thought it was better not. Being a PTSD survivor and maybe the Nani Lanai was his way of coping...didn't want to dredge up anything that might upset him. Did you visit him, John??

howlinowl

I looked up Mr. Bisol's phone number after MadDogMike posted his reply. I had driven by Mr. Bisol's house once or twice over the years and had no idea. Mr. Bisol was polite and openly receptive to inquiries, and he was extremely articulate and possessed a fine memory. It was a pleasure talking to him.

Great find and nice follow-up, John! What a classic story, Tiki Pop in a nut shell!