Meet Jeremy Lytle
Wordsmith / Marketing Strategist

my roots

I’m a 49er, born on a September morning during one of the storms of the century in the basement of my family’s seaside home in Portsmouth, England; a breached birth; came out backwards. When I was four I stood within hands reach of Queen Elizabeth’s glistening golden horse drawn carriage in London as the new royal diva waved at the crowd of thousands celebrating her coronation in 1953. I had my 5th birthday aboard the SS America crossing the Atlantic with my Mom and two brothers on our great adventure to America; destination … “The Big Apple!”

I lived in a “boys” home in the Bronx on Riverside Drive for the first year; we enjoyed a clear view of Yankee Stadium. My friends and I would sneak out with great expectations and trek up to the train station above the outfield and watch the Yankees play while drinking frosty cold Pepsi out of glass bottles. It was a magical time.
My Dad was working on ocean liners sailing between South Hampton and New York. He joined us a year later and we moved to Monticello, New York, where I attended a one room school house. The school bus … a blue and white 1957 Chevrolet station wagon – a classic automobile with “fins.” Whatever happened to fins on cars? I still drive a Chevy – great brand.

Our next move was a cross country trip to California. The family was packed into a big and cushy “woody” soft top, a Chrysler, and just before we headed west above the Florida state line my dad in his true British Army style said “let’s see the Sunshine Sate first” he hung a left. We drove down the west coast of Florida and crossed the state on the Tamiami Trail. Our u-turn landed the family in Pompano Beach. We stayed!

Once again we were on Riverside Drive but this time 2 blocks from the ocean. The beaches in 1959 from Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano to what is today Point of Americas in Fort Lauderdale, across from Port Everglades, were pristine. I walked every mile of those beaches. I fished, swam and snorkeled. There were live conch shells 20 feet off the beach. The reefs were alive with color and tropical fish everywhere! And, in those days, you could build a fire on the beach, roast your speared catch, and spend the night starring up at a sky swimming with stars.

And much to my delight we had my old friends, the New York Yankees, spring training at Pompano Park … Mantle, Maris, Bunning, Bearer … it was great fun!

In1967 I graduated from high school; that night, I and my brother and a friend, loaded our surfboards and some supplies into a green Volkswagen bus (a camper) and in 54 hours arrived in Sand Diego – the waves were huge, breaking over the top of the San Diego pier. It was a chilly, foggy morning. There were a few brave surfers riding the giant waves … a thrilling welcome to the California coast, my second home.