A "long" awaited lighthouse book is currently scheduled to be published in December 2003...

:p :p :p

do you have more details on what it is about?

By the "long" my bet is it's to do with Long Island Lighthouses!

The Lighthouse sleuth has done it again.

There will be a book on the Lighthouses of Long Island published very soon. The first 200 copies will be sold with autographs by the authors.

I sent my order in last week. Check out the Long Island Chapter of the USLHS webpage at

http://www.lilighthousesociety.org/default.htm

Dennis

Ding! Ding! Ding! Mombo is correct!

The Long Island Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society is pleased to announce that Long Island's Lighthouses: Past and Present is scheduled to be released on December 1, 2003. The book is a fundraiser for the Chapter, with all proceeds going toward historic lighthouse preservation and education.

We are currently accepting preorders at a discounted price: $20 for book plus $5 shipping and handling. As a special bonus, the first 200 individual preorders received will receive some special bonuses, including a signed and numbered copy of the book, a special "Behind the Pages" - the story of the making of the book, and other lighthouse "goodies."

The book will be written by Bob Muller, with assistance from several members of the Chapter. I'm doing the editing, so you can blame the typos on me. :p

We are very excited about this project! And we have had some wonderful response so far (thanks, Dennis for your order!).

If you have any questions, or concerns, don't hesitate to contact me or the Chapter.

There are two theories about how the book came about:

1. At the November board meeting of the Long Island Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society, Carol House suggested that we publish the book (which I haven't had time to work on since we founded the Chapter) as a fundraiser for the Chapter, with all proceeds going to benefit historic lighthouse preservation and education.

2. I got tired of people asking "When is your book going to be out?"

As with most things, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Anyway, we have shifted the research into overdrive (one of our volunteers will spend ten days at the National Archives next month, for instance) and we have a scheduled release date of December 1. We're gathering documents, stories, photos, etc., much of which has never been seen or heard in public before.

I'll do the writing. Diane and Carol are handling the editing. I'm still doing more research, with help from Jayme Breschard, Jerry Leeds, John Voross, and Fred Fragano.

Some of the coolest stuff in the book will come from former LI lighthouse keepers. Saturday, I spent a couple of hours talking with a former Fire Island keeper (at a meeting of the Association of Suffolk County Historical Societies), and earlier tonight, I spoke with a former Little Gull Island keeper. BTW, both of these keepers will be attending our March 21 Keepers' Dinner with Bill Younger, as will some others, including a 1930s keeper. Tickets are on sale for that.

I think Diane mentioned that the first 200 book orders will get some extra goodies, including a "behind the pages" account of the book. I don't think I've seen that done before. In it, I'll tell some of the stuff that won't be in the book because of space limitations, or isn't really right for the book, but is still cool, such as the first time I met Van Field or Chatt Chapman, more keepers' stories, and some of the things that have happened in the five years I've been working on the book. Being a book fan, I know I sure would love to have a companion such as that to some of the books I've read.

We announced the book to our members last week, and over 50 preorders have already come in. If you want in on the first 200, hit the PayPal link on LILighthouseSociety.org or send a check pretty soon. We'll announce it on a wider scale over the next couple of weeks.

I have one more post to make before I retire for the evening. If there are any questions about the book, post them here, or contact Diane or me.

Thanks for all the support the people in these forums provide for our organization. It makes difference.

Bob Muller

Hi Bob or Diane, canwe get some book details. Like the number of pages and photos? Thanks.

Number of pages will be in the 200-250 range. Perhaps a tiny bit more.

Photos will be mainly archival shots, showing the lighthouses as they have been during construction and/or during various periods of their history. I would expect at least three photos per chapter, although some will have many more. There will probably be a contemporary photo of each light still standing. I recently did some aerial photography of some of the local lights and will use at least one of them, probably more, in the book.

There will also be some of Paul Bradley's illustrations, including his rendition of the long-lost Gardiner's Island lighthouse, and his LI map with all the stations marked. Both of these illustrations were done in cooperation with the LI Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society, and he is donating the work for the book. I expect to use at least one pre-1900 map, too.

The cover will be color, the photos inside will be B&W. I still intend to do a more general LI lighthouse book with color photos someday, but it won't be as cool for "real" lighthouse fans as this one.

I'm psyched for this project, and promise it will be worth the wait.

Bob

FANTASTIC!

At last Bob Mueller's book is going to be available and with the assistance and aide of many other Long Island Lighthouse lovers.

Count me in! I want one!

John

Preorder your copy of the book here...

http://www.lilighthousesociety.org/giftshop/lilighthousesbook/default.htm

Just ordered mine. Sounds great and the fact that it's author is "one of us" makes it even more special.

when this thread started, I checked out the lighthouse society web site. It's a fantastic resource of information. Thanks

This is a "win win situation' for the Lighthouse Community with Bob Muller publishing his time & talent invested research (with some help from his friends); for the benefit of the Long Island Lighthouse Society; who will benefit local lighthouses; to the benefit all you lighthouse lovers with a Long Island Lighthouse book which will have accurate information about all area lighthouses that has never had it's own book before. [Others books have included some of LI Lighthouse but not all of them.]
Bob has been compiling and refining this information long before I met him, and I look forward to it's release. Many of you have gotten a taste of what will be included through Bob's website, newsletter, lighthouse articles, and posts on the Forum.
Bob has very generously donated this work, to benefit the Long Island Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society. (Bob is co-founder and President.)

Mailed my check last Saturday as soon as I read the mail about the upcoming book. I'm excited about having such a wonderful reference and history of lighthouses that are in my area.

Donna

That's quite a post from the normally-stoic General Scroope.

Thanks for the comments, big guy!

Bob