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An Island Out of Time : A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake
An Island Out of Time A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake Author:Tom Horton Smith Island is a marshy archipelago in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Although it is only nine miles from the mainland, it's 150 Waterman and their families live much as their ancestors did 300 years ago, exquisitely attuned to the habits of blue crab, oyster, and waterfowl, knowing that on any given day their lives literally depend... more » on which way the wind is blowing.
Tom Horton spent nearly three years on Smith Island. In AnIslandOutofTime he gives us an intimate portrait of a deeply traditional community that is on the verge of vanishing. Whether he is following the crab harvest or attending a service at the local Methodist Church, eaves-dropping on bawdy kitchen-table gossip or chronicling the Islander' disputes with game wardens and seafood inspectors, Horton tells his stories with marvelous depth and the feeling while staying alert to their wider significance- to what they can teach us about living within nature while maintaining a healthy distance from the rest of the world.« less