Wrightsville Beach
The Luminous Island
2nd Edition
SIGNED HARDCOVER EDITION & UNSIGNED PAPERBACK
ALSO AVAILABLE IN EBOOK AND AUDIO BOOK
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“Wrightsville Beach,” Signed 2nd Edition.
SOON AFTER CROSSING THE DRAWBRIDGEfrom the mainland, you’ll reach a fork in the road and face your first decision at Wrightsville Beach. Bearing left will take you to the famous Johnnie Mercer’s Fishing Pier and near the site where a giant sperm whale named Trouble once washed ashore and refused to leave. Bearing right will take you to the classic downtown and points south, including the Coast Guard station and the site of the late, great Lumina Pavillion.
“Wrightsville Beach” is Ray McAllister’s homage to a special place, a book that captures not only Wrightsville’s history but its heart. Along the way, he shares stories of fire and and hurricanes and beach trolleys and Big Bands.
Through all the changes, Wrightsville has never forgotten the hospitality that made it such a destination in the first place. Just ask the airplane full of Pennsylvanians who fled here to escape one of American’s first man-made disasters. Or the thousands who continue to come for happier reasons today.
*Enhanced Second Edition, ISBN 978-0-9987881-1-1, published in 2017 by John F. Blair, Publisher, in collaboration with Beach Glass Books, is distributed through Beach Glass Books. (First edition, ISBN 978-089587-347-7, published by John F. Blair, Publisher, is now out of print.)
Praise for Wrightsville Beach:
Winner of the Willie Parker Peace History Book Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians.
Nominee for the Library of Virginia Literary Award.
“Covering Big Bands, fires,hurricanes, and trolleys, McAllister captures Wrightsville’s Beach history and heart as he explains the appeal of the area that attracts so many annual visitors.”
- Andrea Griffith, Our State North Carolina magazine
“Congratulations on WrightsvilleBeach: The Luminous Island. … I admire the research and effort you put into your well-written book. I’m also glad to have the map and the information I had never heard of about the ‘National Negro Playground.’ I’m recommending ‘Wrightsville Beach’ …Your book made me hungry for seafood and the beach …”
- Tom Wicker, author of “Shooting Star: The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy,” ” A Time to Die” and “Unto This Hour: A Novel.”
“Another home runwith this book. As expected, I love the chapter on fishing piers. You are making my task of researching and documenting all of NC piers past and present easy. Can’t wait for your next one.”
- Al Baird, founder, North Carolina Fishing Pier Society
“After reading this book,if you haven’t already been to this beach and experienced some of what Mr. McAllister wrote about, you will want to [go]. … Why is it called the ‘luminous’ island? You’ll have to read the book. Do you want to know about the Pirates and Money Island or the Mystery of the Blockade Runner? Read the book. Is this beach considered another ‘Atlantic City’? And how did the Storm of 1899 affect the area? What ‘Trouble’ washed ashore there on April 5, 1928? Here are only a few reasons to ‘READ THE BOOK!’ –which is filled with fabulous historical stories … [and] dotted with wonderful pictures.”
- North Carolina Society of Historians
“McAllister perfectly capturesthe essence of Wrightsville Beach.”
- Deal Safrit, owner of Literary Bookpost (Salisbury, NC), in Our State North Carolina