This unique, captivating guide takes you where no other guide book can - to the little known, hard to reach, out of the way and easy to miss parts of this special island in the U.S. Virgins. Other guidebooks can tell you where to stay, eat, shop, or rent a car. But St. John Off the Beaten Track takes you off the road and on to the islands many hiking trails, telling insider stories as you go. Then it takes you off the trails, scrambling up rocks, walking the shoreline, and wandering up and down lush green guts. It will also lead you to the best snorkeling, the lesser-known beaches, old plantation ruins and much more.

Gerald Singer is an enthusiastic storyteller and much history and culture is shared along the way. A 30-year resident, he lets you in on many places that other locals wish he wouldn't mention, preferring to keep these spots to themselves. Indeed his guide brings these places to life and takes the reader back in time to the action, adventure, history, struggle, strife, work, and play that spawned the colorful personality St. John is known for even today.

The book has everything you need to keep you busy, enthralled, and moving about. Enjoy the full color photos by St. John photographer Dean Hulse and illustrations by Natasha Singer. Read it before you go. Pick your adventures. Bring the book with you. And, once on the island, use it both to decipher the hints left behind by a culture now vanished as well as to enjoy the beauty of this pristine paradise, nearly impossible to find elsewhere today. top of page

St. John Off the Beaten Track is, more than anything else, an expression of my love for St. John, its people and its culture. St. John is one of the greatest places on Earth. So come and visit, and let St. John Off the Beaten Track provide you with information that will greatly enhance your tropical island experience.

Top of page

St. Thomas St. John This Week Review

by Tedi Davis - October, 2001

Author Gerald Singer Offers Guides and Glories of St. John.

Whatever your connection to the island of St. John - whether you just discovered it's intriguing nature an hour ago or you've lived in "Love City" all your life, you'll be pleased to know resident author Gerald Singer created two MUST-HAVE publications for you to savor.

St. John Off the Beaten Track and Tales of St. John and the Caribbean keep flying off the shelves of the thirty local retail stores that carry the books. Although the books deal with completely different topics, each offers tropical treasures to sift through again and again. Adding to the colorful flavor of his works, the story behind Jerry becoming a well-respected writer is an intriguing passage, as well

.Born in Massachusetts and raised in New York, the author first visited the Virgin Islands in 1969 and fell in love with the tiny paradise. Everything from the fishing to the free and easy lifestyle suited him. He settled down for a time and his daughter Natasha was born in the VI in 1971. Then, for a decade and a half, Jerry's travels took him everywhere from the Bahamas to Connecticut.

In 1985, Jerry finally returned to his beloved Love City. "I bought property on St. John and it included a vacation rental," said Jerry. "I lived in the cottage and rented out the main house." In an effort to provide an extra special guide all about St. John for his short-term guests, Jerry began compiling interesting facts about his adopted homeland. "I got so into it, the project became a book," he explained with a smile. That first effort then developed into St. John Off the Beaten Track.

Looking for the best snorkeling? Wondering about the best walking trails? This book tells tales simply yet beautifully.

Now in its second printing, the 304 page publication is chock full of practical "hands on" information for explorers. It also has fun-filled anecdotes guaranteed to entertain readers- even those not on island.

Tales of St. John and the Caribbean is Jerry's latest effort to captivate island aficionados- and he has succeeded, mightily. Published just this year, Jerry's approach to this book is significant for the gracious attitude of its author. As credited in the book's opening acknowledgments, most of the short stories appeared in print the first time as ads for Marina Market on the back page of the St. John Tradewinds newspaper.

Yes, this book had nearly as unique a birth as Jerry's previous works. More than two years ago, Michaela "Mimi" Alioto, proprietor of the two popular grocery stores on St. Thomas and St. John, requested that Jerry create a series of short stories for her ads. Topics of these unusual forms of business promotion ranged from miracle sailing rescues to musings of island life by Jerry as well as many other residents. The compilation is a gem, indeed.

Commented the author, "St. John is so unique. The people are so wonderful, so friendly. This book is a cooperative sharing - just like the island itself."

Whether you are on St. John for life or just an afternoon, Gerald Singer's books will afford you the opportunity to keep the best of Love City forever in your heart.

Top of page

Daily News Review
Lynda Lohr, The Daily News March 25, 1997

At the turn of nearly every page of Gerald Singer's new book, St. John Off The Beaten Track, you'll say to yourself, "I didn't know that."…For example, did you know that men once dueled (yes, dueled) at Waterlemon (that's right lemon) Cay in Leinster Bay? Before 1800, men from St. Thomas and St. John would sail off to Tortola to avenge their honor, but when British authorities outlawed dueling, they switched their locale to Waterlemon Cay.

This book isn't just about history. You'll find a map of Leinster Bay, complete with X's to mark the ruins, arrows pointing out good snorkeling spots, and dotted lines indicating trails.

Singer gives readers a potpourri of facts about the lesser-known spots on St. John…There are sections on the 1733 St. John Slave Rebellion, sea grass, and nude bathing at Salomon Bay. Did you know that…Henley Cay was the sight of the first airplane crash on St. John?

top of page

Treasures come in all sizes, shapes and colors. Mr. Gerald Singer has given us a fitting treasure in St. John Off The Beaten Track, with history, folk tales, beauties of nature, the best places to relax and wonder and the scenic vistas that make St. John the pearl of places. Whether you swim, snorkel, dream, interact with nature, love solitude, love people or just want to be you, take St. John, Off The Beaten Track along with you. Read it at your leisure. Meet the liar from Johnny Horn or the swimmers from Leinster Bay to "Freedom" in Tortola. Go to Rams Head or the Peace Hill. You have a treat in store. Enjoy!Guy H. Benjamin

Note: Guy Benjamin is the author of the book Me and My Beloved Virgin, which contain his memoirs of the days before tourism came to St. John. It's a delightful book, well written and most enjoyable, worth every penny.

top of page