by Rita Plush
Everything you ever wanted to know about Fire Island you can now ask … and have answered with 10 noteworthy titles on the barrier island, many of them authored by long-time Fire Islanders.Fire Island: 1650s-1980s by Madeline C. Johnson
In its fifth printing since its initial release 30 years ago, this title penned by late Point O’Woods resident Madeline Johnson, remains a fixture on the bookshelves of Fire Island cottages. It is the foremost contemporary account, the go to primer of the island’s history, filled with history and fascinating insights into the various barrier island communities. And Johnson, or “Mandy,” to her friends, had a feel for the topic, having grown up spending her summers on the island and sailing the Great South Bay. (Point O’ Woods Historical Society)
The Fire Island National Seashore: A History by Lee E. Koppelman & Seth Forman
If you’re all about the briny deep, you might want to dive into this book that gives us the skinny on the founding of the Fire Island National Seashore. Within its pages you will learn that Fire Island is one of only five national seashores in the national parks system, and be privy to a discussion on the battle to control erosion, the conflict between preservation and public access and the seashore’s changing management and organizational structure and the sometimes turbulent story behind it. (SUNY Press)
Fire Island Surf Hotel and Other Hostelries on Fire Island Beaches in the Nineteenth Century by Harry W. Havemeyer
This third installment of a trilogy on Long Island history by Lonelyville’s own Harry Havemeyer is impeccably researched, while maintaining a lyrical prose in his writing style. While the famous Surf Hotel is a focal point for this work, the world of resort seaside hotels along Fire Island and Long Island’s south shore includes Dominy House, Perkinson’s, and Wa-Wa-Yanda Fishing Club among others. The glossy center plates of vintage images are a treat unto themselves. (Amereon House)
Fire Island Past, Present, and Future: The Environmental History of a Barrier Beach by Robert F. Sayre
Eco-friendly and easy to read, compilation of the island’s ecological history from its postglacial origins – the mangoes way back – to its human uses and its prospects for survival in the age of global warming. Supplemented with a large collection of photos, maps and diagrams, Sayre describes the human impact on the island over the last 200 years and opines about the island’s recent past, including Hurricane Sandy, and his vision of the future. As a longtime Point O’Woods resident, this book was a parting gift to the people of Fire Island, courtesy of the late Dr. Sayre. (Oystercatcher Books)
Cherry Grove Fire Island: Sixty Years in America’s First Gay & Lesbian Town by Esther Newton
Over 20 years ago Cherry Grove resident and social anthropologist Esther Newton penned a ground-breaking work, which was in many ways the first of its kind. Last year Duke University recognized this achievement and issued a reprinted edition. Here, you’ll learn about the little strip of land that became America’s first gay community, the inside info on the bars and discos – some Mafia owned – and the goings on in the bushes. This book both celebrates this jewel of a community while honestly exploring its complicated dynamics. (Duke University Press)
Fire Island & Beach Resort and National Seashore (Images of Modern America) by Shoshanna McCollum
While actually two books, they complement each other well as a set. This photo-essay series includes legendary shipwrecks, heroic life- saving, the cholera protests at the Surf Hotel in 1892 and plays it forward to a grassroots campaign to prevent a highway that ultimately established Fire Island National Seashore in 1964. Shoshanna McCollum is Editor of Fire Island News, and her book’s bibliography cites many of the other titles on this list. (Arcadia Publishing)
Dark Wind: A True Account of Hurricane Gloria’s Assault of Fire Island by John Jiler
It’s September 25, 1985, and the worst storm in half a century is headed towards Fire Island’s narrow tract of land. The East Coast is evacuated for hundreds of miles north and south, but on the barrier island 10 diehard residents refuse to leave. This real life event is where Seaview’s own John Jiler launches his sweeping, epic Fire Island story. Using lively prose and in depth interviews, he paints a vivid picture of those who survived. (St. Martins Press)
Fire Island Modernist by Christopher Bascom Rawlins
Himself an architect and Fire Island Pines resident, Rawlins has turned his hand to give us the first- ever account of the late Horace Gifford whose series of stunning Fire Island beach houses transformed both its terrain and its culture. Architecture aside, Rawlins is not only intent on T-squares and transoms, but serves up a cultural history of New York’s gay community, showing how Gifford’s designs were deeply connected to the newfound freedoms he and his clients enjoyed out on the beach, as the 60s became The Sixties. (Metropolis Books/Gordon de Vries Studio)
13 Legends of Fire Island and the Great South Bay by Jack Whitehouse
If pirates and ghosts, shipwrecks and treasure chests get your blood going, then you’ll shiver your timbers in this trove of tales Horror and gore up your alley? Then you’ll be able to take without turning away, descriptions of the torture of the slave trade prisoners. There’s Vikings and German submarine saboteurs–no not in the same story–a tale of a Revolutionary War romance, and a possible Viking discovery of the island in this well researched anthology. (iUniverse)
Fire Island by John J. Stevens
“This was the smell of a new nation – a free, proud, and hard-working people…” So opens Stevens’ novel contribution to our otherwise nonfiction summer reading. In 1857, Moses Howland Grinnell’s prized trading ship is wrecked off the coast of Fire Island. He loses his son, his crew, and one of his legs, but goes on to build a life he never could have imagined. An engrossing read that weaves together historical facts and persons along with fictional characters. (Bull- frog Communications)
Most of these titles are still in print. Those that are not can usually be obtained through used book outlets like Amazon, or via Kindle. Happy summer reading!
