BOOK 



MARKET 



Text by Carmine Prioli 



Tfie Beginnings 

 of English 

 America, pub- 

 lished in 1983. 



His latest 

 book covers an 

 array of topics 

 from the early 

 days of life on 

 the Outer Banks 

 to its natural his- 

 tory to memo- 

 rable Bankers and others who passed 

 through. The 64 selections span the centu- 

 ries from 1524 to 1995, giving a sweeping 

 perspective on the changes that man has 

 wrought on these fragile islands. 



Stick says in his introduction, "An 

 Outer Banks Reader is ... the culmination 

 of a four-year search through more than a 

 thousand books, pamphlets, periodicals, 

 historical documents and other writings, 

 seeking the ones that seemed to add color 

 to this verbal picture of the Outer Banks." 

 Later he adds, 'Together they form a pot- 

 pourri, covering more than four and a half 

 centuries of observation." 



Beginning with Giovanni da 

 Verrazano's first-person account of how 

 Outer Banks natives rescued a sailor from 

 rough surf, treated him kindly and then 

 sent him safely back to his ship, the tone 

 for the rest of Stick's choices is set: true 

 stories and honest views of the people, 

 places and events that have shaped the 

 area. Between the covers, you will find 

 tales of shipwrecks and pirates, mysteries 

 and oddities. You'll go fishing, fight battles 

 and relive the Wright brothers' first flight. 

 By the time you rum the last of these 297 

 pages, you will have gone on a wild and 

 wonderful ride through Outer Banks his- 

 tory. These are stories you will turn to 

 again and again for entertainment and a 

 perspective on our past. 



All royalties from sales of the book 

 will go to the Outer Banks Community 

 Foundation's Frank Stick Memorial Fund, 

 which provides support for the Outer 

 Banks History Center. 



The Ca'e Bankers of Harkers Island 



Photos by Edwin Martin 



• Hope for a 

 Good Season: The 

 Ca'e Bankers of 

 Harkers Island by 



Carmine Prioli. Pho- 

 tographs by Edwin 

 Martin. 1998. Down 

 Home Press, P.O. Box 

 4126, Asheboro, NC 

 27204. 119 pages. 

 Paperback $15.95. 

 ISBN 1-878086-65-0. 

 In his somewhat nostalgic text Prioli, 

 a literature and folklore scholar, offers a 

 careful investigation of events and ways of 

 life rather than an emotional appeal for pre- 

 serving the Harkers Island culture. The 

 "Ca'e Bankers" of the title is a local term 

 for people who have lived for generations 

 at Cape Lookout and Shackleford Banks. 

 "Hope for a 

 good season" is 

 the perennial 

 sentiment of the 

 fishers who 

 increasingly 

 find their live- 

 lihoods chal- 

 lenged by 

 development, 

 competition 

 and declining 

 stocks of fish 

 and shellfish. 



Prioli 

 begins his study 

 with a concise 

 look at the 

 settlement his- 

 tory of the area. 

 From there he 

 progresses to a 



number of subjects, some prickly, such as 

 the culling of the wild pony herds on 

 Shackleford Banks. Prioli explains the im- 

 portance of a 1953 hurricane that opened 

 Barden Inlet and the bridges that allowed 

 easy access for mainlanders who changed 

 island life forever. He ends with a bit of 

 fun: a glossary of Harkers Island vocabu- 



lary, the unique brogue spoken on the is- 

 land. Side stories cover a number of inter- 

 esting points of island life and lore, from 

 decoy carving to boatbuilding to the legend 

 of the fully laden rumrunner that ran 

 aground in 1923. 



An interesting element of this book is 

 that the text is separated from most of the 

 60 or so photographs, which are often 

 haunting in their smoky representations of 

 the islanders. A handful of images punctu- 

 ate the narrative, but most are reserved for a 

 gallery in the second half of the book. The 

 effect is often unsettling, as if these dis- 

 jointed images are floating free from one 

 another, avoiding coalescing into a coher- 

 ent whole. Yet this effect is apt, for it re- 

 flects the fragmentation of island life that 

 has occurred in these past decades. 



Overall, the book presents a brief yet 

 potent glimpse into 

 a disappearing 

 culture. And Prioli 

 is careful not to 

 pass judgment on 

 this evolution. His 

 point as sharp and 

 piercing as the call 

 of a gull, is clear in 

 the words he al- 

 lows the Ca'e 

 Bankers to speak: 

 Until the day they 

 die, these people 

 will cling to their 

 way of life, hoping 

 for a good season. 



• North 

 Carolina's 

 Hurricane 

 History by Jay 



Barnes. Revised and updated edition. 1998. 

 University of North Carolina Press, P.O. 

 Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515. 256 

 pages. Paperback, $18.95. Hardcover, 

 $34.95. ISBN 0-8078-4728-3. 



Hazel. Hugo. Fran. These are names 

 most North Carolinians will never forget. 

 And while our memories of lesser storms 



28 HOLIDAY J 998 



