Meet The Author Of New Book About Island Beach On Saturday

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK - Here's your chance to buy a new, limited edition, oversized book about Island Beach State Park.

Come to the park's interpretive center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and meet Gordon Hesse, the author of Iisland Beach - A Sonnet in the Sands."

The 288-page book has more than 385 images of Island Beach's hidden past, from the time the Europeans arrived up to the present day, according to the Friends of Island Beach's Facebook page.

The book costs $39.95 and Hesse will donate $5 from the sale of each book on Dec. 16 or any Island Beach book ordered from him through his personal website to the nonprofit Friends of Island Beach State Park.

Stories about land pirates, shipwrecks, dramatic lifesaving rescues and tragedies, seaweed industries, squatters and shack leases, beach buggies and top secret missile tests are featured and highlighted with hundreds of vintage images and photographs by exceptional wildlife photographers.

"The dramas of lives lived, saved, and lost - both in personal accounts and in the historic record - resonate with those of every life," Hesse wrote in the preface to the book. "This seemingly simple place has a history that begs to be expanded and recorded before it fades away. Hopefully, this book will leave a respectful imprint and capture some of the history, folklore, beauty, culture, and significance of this precious gem of a place."

For more information about this book and others by Hesse go to www.gordonhesse.com

Photo: Courtesy of Gordon Hesse