Publisher Description

For half a century, David Stick has been writing books about the fragile chain of barrier islands off the North Carolina coast known as the Outer Banks. Two of his earliest, "Graveyard of the Atlantic" and "The Outer Banks of North Carolina," were published by the UNC Press in the 1950s, and continue to be best-sellers.

More recently, Stick embarked on another project, searching for the most captivating and best-written examples of what others have said about his beloved Outer Banks. In the process, more than 1,000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, historical documents, and other writings were reviewed.

The result is a rich and fascinating anthology. The selections in "An Outer Banks Reader" span the course of more than four and a half centuries, from the first known record of a meeting between Europeans and Native Americans in the region in 1524 to modern-day accounts of life on the Outer Banks. Together, Stick hopes, the sixty-four entries may provide both "outlanders" and natives with an understanding of why the Outer Banks are home to a rapidly growing number of people who would rather spend the rest of their lives there than any place else on earth.

Flap

This rich anthology captures the eventful history and the special appeal of North Carolinaes Outer Banks. Sixty-four selections include pieces by explorer John Lawson, Wilber & Orville Wright, John Dos Passos, and Carl Sandburg.

Author Biography

David Stick, who lives on the Outer Banks, is the author of Graveyard of the Atlantic and The Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Table of Contents

ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. First Impressions Contact / Giovanni da Verrazzano Traffic with the Savages / Arthur Barlowe The Dividing Line / William Byrd Antebellum Nags Head / Gregory Seaworthy (George Higby Throop) Three Weddings at Hunting Quarters / Nathaniel H. Bishop A Visit to Ocracoke / Carl Goerch2. The Natural Environment Native Agriculture / Thomas Harriot Market Gunning / H. H. Brimley The Hungry Horde / Jack Dermid Creatures of the Shoals / Rachel Carson A History of Blues / Joel Arrington3. Man versus Nature The Opening of Oregon and Hatteras Inlets / William L. Welch / C. O. Boutelle TheWorstLight in the World / David D. Porter The Sand Wave / John R. Spears Project Nutmeg / Captain Howard B. Hutchinson, USN Man's Impact on the Barrier Islands of North Carolina / Robert Dolan, Paul J. Godfrey, and William E. Odum Saving Nags Head Woods / Michael Godfrey Cape Lookout National Seashore: A Return to the Wild / Michael E. C. Gery4. Ships and the Sea Shipwreck off Hatteras / Sarah Kollock Harris The Foundering of the USSMonitor/ William Frederick Keeler The Wreck of the USSHuron/ Joe A. Mobley The Wreck of the BarkJosie Troop/ Anonymous Wreck of the SchoonerSarah D. J. Rawson/ Anonymous The Ghost Ship Mystery of Diamond Shoals / John Harden When the Ship Hit the Span / John Alexander and James Lazell The Pea Island Lifesavers / David Wright and David Zoby5. War on the Banks Of Captain Teach Alias Blackbeard / Captain Charles Johnson (Daniel Defoe) The Rendezvous at Hatteras / William Morrison Robinson Jr. Lincoln Hears the News / Carl Sandburg The Chicamacomico Races / Evert A. Duyckinck The Battle of Roanoke Island / George Washington Whitman TheMirloRescue / John Allen Midgett I Wore a Dead Man's Hand / Aycock Brown and Ken Jones6. Making a Living The Petition of Legal Pilots of Ocracoke Bar / John Williams et al. The Wild Horses, Their Qualities and Habits / Edmund Ruffin The Last Whale Killed along These Shores / Grayden Paul and Mary C. Paul Yaupon Factory / H. H. Brimley A Record Catch / Old Trudge (Carl Goerch) Pumping and Grinding / Tucker Littleton Sharpies, Shad Boats, and Spritsail Skiffs / Mark Taylor Bread-and-Butter Fishing / Jan DeBlieu7. Ones of a Kind Stanley Wahab, Tar Heel of the Week / Woodrow Price The Mighty Midgetts of Hatteras / Don Wharton Cap'n Ban and the Infernal Engine / Ben Dixon MacNeill Old Quork / Charles Harry Whedbee Les and Sally Moore, Pioneers / Jerry Bledsoe Ad Man, Con Man, Photographer, and Legend / Vera A. Evans A Time to Reap / William Ruehlmann The Last of the Currituck Beach Cowboys / Lorraine Eaton The Crab Picker / Elizabeth Leland8. Visitors Leave Their Footprints The Governor Returns / John White Gray-Eyed Indians / John Lawson The Nag's Head Picture of Theodosia Burr / Bettie Freshwater Pool Our Winds Are Always Steady / Joseph J. Dosher, William J. Tate, Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright The Campers at Kitty Hawk / John Dos Passos The Forgotten Pioneer / Patrick K. Lackey Foreword to the Lost Colony / Paul Green9. Lifestyles America's First Science Center / Ivor No

Review

I found the happenings and characters so interesting I couldn't stop reading.William Friday Delivers a superb sampler of Outer Banks history."North Carolina Historical Review" "The collection is perfect for anyone who loves the bleak, inspiring beauty of a barrier beach island."Islands"" ""The Outer Banks Reader" comes pounding in fresh, strong, a bit unpredictable, and with no shortage of salt.Raleigh "News and Observer"" The collection is perfect for anyone who loves the bleak, inspiring beauty of a barrier beach island."Islands" "The Outer Banks Reader" comes pounding in fresh, strong, a bit unpredictable, and with no shortage of salt.Raleigh "News and Observer" [A] delightful potpourri."Sierra"

Long Description

For half a century, David Stick has been writing books about the fragile chain of barrier islands off the North Carolina coast known as the Outer Banks. Two of his earliest,Graveyard of the AtlanticandThe Outer Banks of North Carolina, were published by the UNC Press in the 1950s, and continue to be best-sellers.More recently, Stick embarked on another project, searching for the most captivating and best-written examples of what others have said about his beloved Outer Banks. In the process, more than 1,000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, historical documents, and other writings were reviewed.The result is a rich and fascinating anthology. The selections inAn Outer Banks Readerspan the course of more than four and a half centuries, from the first known record of a meeting between Europeans and Native Americans in the region in 1524 to modern-day accounts of life on the Outer Banks. Together, Stick hopes, the sixty-four entries may provide both "outlanders" and natives with an understanding of why the Outer Banks are home to a rapidly growing number of people who would rather spend the rest of their lives there than any place else on earth.

Review Quote

The Outer Banks Reader comes pounding in fresh, strong, a bit unpredictable, and with no shortage of salt.Raleigh News and Observer

Promotional "Headline"

"For those who live far from the Outer Banks, but know and love it, this is just the sort of book to pull out from time to time and be transported immediately to a place within sound of the ocean's unending, rhythmic roar."-- Virginian-Pilot

Details