It's Time for "Island Time: An Illustrated History of St. Simon's Island"

Jingle Davis has salt water in her veins. We all do, but she has perhaps more than most people, having grown up on St. Simon’s and lived there most of her life. She was always in the water, on the water, in boats, on skis, paddling a canoe, fishing, crabbing or just staring at waves.

So writing a book about her hometown, her island, seemed like a good fit. She had covered the coastal part of Georgia for years as a newspaper reporter and she knew a lot about a lot of things.

What she didn’t realize when she began “Island Time: An Illustrated History of St. Simon’s Island” is how much she would discover. About the native people who are documented as having first lived there. About the various invaders who came and left and returned. About pottery, fishing, warfare and villages.

The chance to write and to learn more about the place where she grew up—what an opportunity! And to work with Benjamin Galland, another native of St. Simon’s who took the beautiful photographs that anchor the book. How great is that?

So it’s no wonder the book seems to sing in celebration as it lays out St. Simon’s for everyone to enjoy, from its earliest beginnings to the present-day clash of development and preservation. Though photographs are ample, the book isn’t your standard coffee table tome, because the narrative is just as elegant as the photos. It all works well.