Author and United States Life-Saving Service Keeper reenactor James D. “Keeper James” will be signing and personalizing copies of his best-selling book, Shipwrecks of the Outer Banks: Dramatic Rescues and Fantastic Wrecks in the Graveyard of the Atlantic, Globe Pequot Press. The exciting event will be on Tuesday, July 25 from 10:00 a.m. until noon at the Island Bookstore in the Scarborough Faire Shopping Village in Duck, NC. The book is selling out at many locations.
Wildly famous for its time of 1871 until 1915, the United States Life-Saving Service saved over 177,000 shipwreck victims, one at a time, mostly in violent storms. Yet somehow America has forgotten these peaceful heroes. “I can not allow that to continue,” says Keeper James, “So I began the research and writing about this most noble, honorable and heroic history, with my stories starting right here in our North Carolina Outer Banks.” In 1915, the name of the hero maritime savers was changed to United States Coast Guard.
‘Today’s town of Duck was the location of three U. S. Life-Saving Service stations: Caffeys Inlet No 10, Poyners Hill No. 9 to its north and Paul Gamiels Hill No 11 to the south. Caffeys Inlet is best known for the wreck and rescues of the barkentine Angela, and the schooner Thomas J. Martin. Both were in 1883 and both are in my forthcoming sequel Volume II, Chapters 10 and 20 respectively,” continued Keeper James.
He will be in his full-dress Keeper’s uniform and accompanied by his wife, Linda Molloy, in her elegant period attire. Special free commemorative bookmarks will accompany each book. The event is open to the public. Island Bookstore is located at Scarborough Faire Shopping Village, 1177 Duck Rd Suite 43, Duck, NC 27949. For more information, call the store at (252) 261-8981.
Keeper James Presentations TM is a series of live programs presented by local historians, historical interpreters and performers Keeper James Charlet and Miz Linda Molloy. Each program about the U.S. Life-Saving Service consists of appetizers of true, exciting, highly dramatic Outer Banks stories of ‘America’s Forgotten Heroes.’ For more information, see www.KeeperJames.com/programs.