SHIP ASHORE

A collection of stories of marine disaster off eastern Long Island during more than three hundred years, of the lighthouses built to prevent disaster and of the services organized to save life and property after shipwreck has occurred""- so states the author her objectives. In the same precise spirit she carries them out. Her narratives go back to 1650, when the Jolly Roger flew in the winds off Suffolk County, and continues down through drownings, lost treasure, mutiny, to the landing of saboteurs from a Nazi submarine, and the discovery of the Swastika decorated cap in the sands of Amagansett. Intense local pride, a fascination for gossipy details, a flair for scenic and sonic bits of Long Island color, combine to an effect of quaintness. Each tragedy looms as part of the area's noble and embattled history. The market will be largely regional.