BOOK 



MARKET 



Book Some Time 



with the North Carolina Coast 



T 



-Lhe 



, he holidays offer a time to re- 

 flect and relax — if you can get away from 

 the bustling shopping malls and festive 

 events. And while giving to others is an im- 

 portant and gratifying part of the holiday 

 season, giving to ourselves is also important. 



This year, treat yourself. Set aside 

 time to fall into your favorite reading chair 

 and crack open a book about the Carolina 

 coast. 



• Hatteras Journal by Jan DeBlieu. 

 1998. John F. Blair, Publisher, 1406 Plaza 

 Dr., Winston-Salem, NC 27103. 232 pages. 

 Paperback, $12.95. ISBN 0-89587-214-5. 



If you read this book when it first was 

 published 1 1 years ago, then here's your 

 chance to share it with others who love na- 

 ture in general or North Carolina's coast in 

 particular. Originally 

 published in hardcover 

 in 1987, this chronicle of 

 Outer Banks life is now 

 in paperback in Blair's 

 Salem Selections series. 



DeBlieu is a master 

 at rendering natural his- 

 tory and ecology in the 

 written word. She has 

 contributed to Audubon, 

 Smithsonian and many 

 other national maga- 

 zines. Her latest book, 

 Wind, was published in 

 July. 



Hatteras Journal is 

 a collection of 10 essays 

 arranged chronologically. Beginning with a 

 legendary nor'easter that raked over Hatteras 

 Island in 1986, DeBlieu moves through her 



By Daun Daemon 



first year or so on the 

 island with grace and 

 drama. 



Her chapter on 

 loggerhead turtles is as 

 luminous as the experi- 

 ence of watching a turtle 

 nesting. It's a mesmeriz- 

 ing account with all the 

 elements of human 

 drama. Will the eggs 

 hatch? If they do, will the 

 hatchlings reach the surf, 

 avoiding the clutches of 

 ravenous raccoons? Once 

 in the ocean, will they 

 survive to find shelter in 

 the Sargasso Sea? This drama is told in 

 language that is often sublime: "We 



crouched in back of the 

 turtle. Pure white bar- 

 nacles that glistened 

 with phosphorescence 

 were strung down her 

 shell like strands of 

 pearls." 



The chapters on 

 fishing — commercial 

 trout fishing and recre- 

 ational red drum fishing 

 — are detailed to the 

 point of intimacy. 

 DeBlieu reveals a world 

 that many of us don't 

 appreciate or that we 

 take for granted. Fish- 

 ing, for those of us who 

 are not enthusiasts or who never question 

 whence comes our seafood dinners, is not 

 just nets and fishing lines, monofilament 



and bait — it's sweat, 

 exhaustion, soggy 

 clothes and exultation. 

 Most landlubbers cannot 

 imagine that a ride in a 

 trawler and a night on the 

 beach with a legion of 

 surf fishers would be 

 enlightening and even 

 thrilling, but they appar- 

 ently were for DeBlieu 

 — and for the reader 

 through her words. 



Throughout this 

 book on nature, we meet 

 the people who act as 

 caretakers for her deni- 

 zens and resources, who are affected by her 

 furious storms, who reap rewards from her 

 bounty, who sit in awe of her beauty. The 

 best thing this book does is remind us that 

 the North Carolina coast has an unrivaled 

 personality and spirit. 



• An Outer Banks Reader, edited 

 by David Stick 1998. University of North 

 Carolina Press, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel 

 Hill, NC 27515. 317 pages. Paperback 

 $16.95. ISBN 0-8078-4726-7. 



Some might argue that no one else 

 knows the history and culture of the Outer 

 Banks as well as Stick, often called "Mr. 

 Outer Banks." Having lived on or near 

 these barrier islands for most of his years. 

 Stick has spent decades writing about life 

 there. His earlier books Graveyard of the 

 Atlantic ( 1 952) and The Outer Banks of 

 North Carolina, 1584-1958 (1958) are 

 still in print, as is his Roanoke Island: 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 27 



