Chesapeake requiem : a year with the waterman of vanishing Tangier Island / Earl Swift.
Tangier Island, Virginia, is a community unique on the American landscape. Mapped by John Smith in 1608, settled during the American Revolution, the tiny sliver of mud is home to 470 hardy people who live an isolated and challenging existence, with one foot in the 21st century and another in times long passed. They are separated from their countrymen by the nation’s largest estuary, and a twelve-mile boat trip across often tempestuous water—the same water that for generations has made Tangier’s fleet of small fishing boats a chief source for the rightly prized Chesapeake Bay blue crab, and has lent the island its claim to fame as the softshell crab capital of the world. Yet for all of its long history, and despite its tenacity, Tangier is disappearing. The very water that has long sustained it is erasing the island day by day, wave by wave. It has lost two-thirds of its land since 1850, and still its shoreline retreats by fifteen feet a year—meaning this storied place will likely succumb first among U.S. towns to the effects of climate change. Experts reckon that, barring heroic intervention by the federal government, islanders could be forced to abandon their home within twenty-five years. Meanwhile, the graves of their forebears are being sprung open by encroaching tides, and the conservative and deeply religious Tangiermen ponder the end times. -- amazon.com
Record details
- ISBN: 9780062661395
- ISBN: 0062661396
- ISBN: 9780062661401
- ISBN: 006266140X
- Physical Description: 435 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York, NY : Dey Street, [2018]
- Copyright: ©2018
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [383]-417) and index. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Crabbing > Virginia > Tangier Island Blue crab > Virginia > Tangier Island Tangier Island (Va.) |
Available copies
- 18 of 22 copies available at SPARK Libraries.
Holds
- 1 current hold with 22 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abington Community Library | 639 SWIFT (Text) | 50687011594705 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Annie Halenbake Ross Library | 639 Swi (Text) | 00141543 | ADULT Non-Fiction | Available | - |
Bellwood-Antis Public Library | 639.56 Swi (Text) | 310BEL00085328 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Coudersport Public Library | 639.56 SWI (Text) | 30183000947919 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Glatfelter Memorial Library | Adults 639 SWI Nonfiction (Text) | 34216000916546 | Adult Area | Available | - |
Green Free Library (Wellsboro) | 639.5 SWI (Text) | 92521961 | GFWM Main Room | Available | - |
Guthrie Memorial Library: Hanover's Public Library | Adults 639 SWI Nonfiction (Text)
Bookplate:
Plated 2018: In Memory of James H. Brady
|
34007002322852 | Adult Area | Checked Out | 04/06/2024 |
Highland Community Library | 639.5 SWI (Text) | 35610000935499 | HGHM Non-Fiction | Available | - |
Huntingdon County Library | NF 639.56 SWI (Text) | 30298100563349 | Nonfiction | Available | - |
Indian Valley Public Library | 639 Swift History (Text) | 39427103479598 | Nonfiction Room: Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Summary:
Tangier Island, Virginia, is a community unique on the American landscape. Mapped by John Smith in 1608, settled during the American Revolution, the tiny sliver of mud is home to 470 hardy people who live an isolated and challenging existence, with one foot in the 21st century and another in times long passed. They are separated from their countrymen by the nation’s largest estuary, and a twelve-mile boat trip across often tempestuous water—the same water that for generations has made Tangier’s fleet of small fishing boats a chief source for the rightly prized Chesapeake Bay blue crab, and has lent the island its claim to fame as the softshell crab capital of the world. Yet for all of its long history, and despite its tenacity, Tangier is disappearing. The very water that has long sustained it is erasing the island day by day, wave by wave. It has lost two-thirds of its land since 1850, and still its shoreline retreats by fifteen feet a year—meaning this storied place will likely succumb first among U.S. towns to the effects of climate change. Experts reckon that, barring heroic intervention by the federal government, islanders could be forced to abandon their home within twenty-five years. Meanwhile, the graves of their forebears are being sprung open by encroaching tides, and the conservative and deeply religious Tangiermen ponder the end times. --