13 Legends of Fire Island
and the Great South Bay
by
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Two Brutal Women And the Famous Money Ship of Fire Island The “two brutal women” of Fire Island were not the first, nor the most notorious, female pirates to terrorize parts of the U.S. eastern seaboard and the Caribbean, but they were surely some of the most effective at their chosen profession. Anne Bonny, the beautiful girlfriend of pirate “Calico Jack” Rackham aboard the Revenge, did her dirty work as early as the 1700s. Fire Island’s two women pirates plundered and killed almost a century later, well into the middle of the 19th century before leaving the beach to live out west in comfortable retirement. So who were these female pirates? While the two were reportedly quite intelligent and in excellent physical and mental condition, Lydia Jones and Portentia Riley earned their moniker “two brutal women” by virtue of their ruthlessness. They had to be ruthless in order to steal cargo, kill men much bigger than themselves, and sell their ill-gotten gains for profit.
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About the Book
Here are stories about Fire Island’s pirates, ghosts, shipwrecks and treasure chests of buried gold and silver. One tale relates the story of the possibility of the Viking discovery of Fire Island; another describes the torture of the island’s slave trade prison. There is a story of unrequited love in the smoldering aftermath of an important Revolutionary War battle and another of German submarine saboteurs of World War II.
If you like horror and suspense, history and mystery, or if you simply enjoy Fire Island and the Great South Bay and want to take home a piece of it home with you, then you will love this anthology. These stories will kindle your interest in visiting new beach locations and spur your imagination with thoughts of what was, and what might well have been. Even if you have never visited the area before, these tales of universal human experience are bound to fascinate. You are certain to want to share 13 Legends of Fire Island and the Great South Bay with friends, after you can put it down, that is.
About the Author
Jack Whitehouse has spent most of his life on or near the water. He first visited Fire Island as a child in the early 1950s and remains a regular visitor to this day. In 1955 he took his first sailing lesson on the Great South Bay eventually teaching sailing for the Wet Pants Sailing Association in the early 1960s. Receiving his commission in the U.S. Navy in 1968, he then served aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Buck for two cruises to Vietnam. In 1971 he became the Executive Officer and then the Commanding Officer of the patrol gunboat U.S.S. Chehalis sailing out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In the early 1970s, following Norwegian language training, he became the first U.S. Navy exchange officer with the Royal Norwegian Navy serving for a combined total of 20 months in Norwegian frigates, patrol boats and submarines in waters north of the Arctic Circle. Jack is currently working on a second book: a history of the home for children, known as the “Cottages,” in Sayville, Long Island. He also writes for the Fire Island Tide under the pen names Jay D. Raines and Lee Jouvet.