Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers

by David Wright, David Zoby

Overview

Fire on the Beach recovers the heroic, long-forgotten story of the only all-black crew in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1871 the Life-Saving Service, the precursor to the Coast Guard, was created by Congress to assure the safe passage of American and international shipping and to save lives and salvage cargo. Although it was decommissioned in 1915, a century ago the LSS boasted some two hundred stations, and the adventures of the now forgotten "surfmen" filled the pages of popular reading, from Harper's to the Baltimore Sun to the New York Herald.

This book tells the story of Station 17 of Pea Island, North Carolina, and its courageous captain, Richard Etheridge. A former slave and Civil War veteran, Etheridge was appointed Keeper of the Pea Island station, but when the white crew already in place refused to serve under him, he recruited and trained an entirely black crew. Although they were among the most courageous in the service, leading many daring rescues and saving scores of men, women, and children along the treacherous stretch of coast known as "the Graveyard of the Atlantic," civilian attitudes toward the Pea Island surfmen ranged from curiosity to outrage. When a hurricane hit the Banks in the late 1890s, they managed to save everyone aboard the wrecked E.S. Newman. This incredible feat went unrecognized for a century until, in 1996, the Coast Guard posthumously awarded Etheridge and his men the Gold Life-Saving Medal.

This courageous story of a group of men who battled prejudice as well as fierce storms to carry out heroic deeds illustrates yet another example of the contribution of one group of remarkable African Americans to this country's history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195154849
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/22/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	213,874
Product dimensions:	9.28(w) x 6.14(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

David Wright is Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Illinois. The recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award, he has written for The Southern Review, The Kenyon Review, and the African American Review.

David Zoby teaches at Casper College in Wyoming. His work has appeared in The Southern Poetry Review, the Georgia State Review, and elsewhere.

What People are Saying About This

Marita Golden

David Wright and David Zoby have written a gripping, unforgettable account of a group of forgotten but undeniable American heroes. Meticulously researched and written with power and beauty, Fire on the Beach captures the story of men, the sea, and the dedication and pride of a group of African American 'surfmen' who set the standard for courage and performance in one of the world's most dangerous jobs.
—(Marita Golden, author of The Edge of Heaven)

Sheri Reynolds

In Fire on the Beach, David Wright and David Zoby have woven together a story like none I've read before. I can't combine enough words to describe this enthralling book. It is the best history lesson I've received in years, but it reads like an adventure, with language both clear and poetic. I enjoyed every minute of it. Fire on the Beach is well-researched and well-written, ambitious and admirable. I hope it sells a million copies.
—(Sheri Reynolds, author of The Rapture of Canaan)

Jay Neugeboren

David Wright and David Zoby are splendid guides who takes us through an exciting chapter of our nation's hitherto unheralded history, and into lives made legend by brave black seamen of the 19th century. They have brought to life an amazing story, one scrupulously researched and compellingly rendered, that does honor to Afro-Americans and to brave seamen everywhere. As one who has himself served in the Merchant Marine, I am deeply impressed, both by the wealth of fascinating sea lore, and by the sheer narrative drive of the tale. Fire on the Beach is an inspiring story of heroism on the high seas.
—(Jay Neugeboren, author of Imagining Robert and Big Man)

Stephen O'Connor

Wright and Zoby's tale of the Pea Island surfmen's heroic struggles against racism and the sea is wise, brilliantly crafted and as gripping as any maritime adventure novel. A Fire on the Beach recreates life on the North Carolina coast from the days of slavery to the early twentieth century in novelistic detail, and inspires us with the dignity and determination of Richard Etheridge, the leader of the all African American life saving team. This is history at its best.
—(Stephen O'Connor, author of Orphan Trains: The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children He Saved and Failed)

Philip Graham

Combining a thrilling narrative pace with meticulous research, David Wright and David Zoby have restored for us all a vibrant chapter of our common history that should never be forgotten. Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers were both ordinary men and heroes of the highest order, and this beautifully written book brings them alive for generations to come.
—(Philip Graham, author of How to Read an Unwritten Language and co-author of Parallel Worlds)

Alyson Hagy

As Richard Etheridge is a 'man among men,' so is this story of the heroic Pea Island life-saving crew a tale among tales. Drama, courage, character, the riches of recovered history Fire on the Beach burns with them all.
—(Alyson Hagy, author of Graveyard of the Atlantic)

Editorial Reviews

"The riveting, previously untold story of the extraordinary heroism of former slaves and freedmen who became lifesavers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina...battling prejudice as well as the great storms that made these barrier islands 'The Graveyard of the Atlantic.'"—St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Best Books of 2001

"Far more than the story of heroic surfmen....A rich social history of 19th century race relations mirrored in the life of a remarkable African American....A compelling read about heroes and scoundrels, seafarers and soldiers...and prejudice towards those who strove to prove themselves equals."—The Virginian-Pilot

"Explore[s] not only the life-saving record of the Pea Island crew, but also the discrimination that burdened the crew members' lives and the social history of those times."—The Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Adds significantly to our understanding of the many essential ways in which African-Americans have served their country."—The Washington Post Book World

"Reads more like a novel than a work of history."—The News and Observer

"Readers who enjoy true-life adventures like Isaac's Storm should find it enthralling."—Wilmington Star-News

"Social history at its readable best."—The Memphis Flyer

"The authors explore not only the life-saving record of the Pea Island crew, but also the discrimination that burdened the crew members' lives and the social history of those times....Readers will want the whole story Wright and Zoby have so ably researched and narrated."—The Richmond Times-Dispatch

"The authors have brought to life an important chapter in regional seafaring history....Fire on the Beach is far more than the story of heroic surfmen. It is a rich social history of 19th century race relations mirrored in the life of a remarkable African-American....A compelling read about heroes and scoundrels, seafarers and soldiers, pride in doing a job and prejudice toward those who strove to prove themselves equals."—The Virginian Pilot

"A story that has been long overdue in its telling."—Black Issues Book Review

From the Publisher

This true-life story is akin to Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm (LJ 5/15/97), except that the storm here is on shore as well. The story roils with the terrifying racism of slavery's aftermath, as Wright (English, Univ. of Illinois) and Zoby (Caspar Coll.) indicate in this story of the life and times of Richard Etheridge (1842-1900). Born a slave, Etheridge served in the U.S. Colored Troops in the Civil War and in 1880 became captain of Station 17 and the only black man to lead a crew in the U.S. Life-Saving Service (LSS), the forerunner of the Coast Guard. Based at Pea Island, NC, Etheridge and his all-black crew braved the terrors of post-Reconstruction white supremacy and segregation to do rescue duty that, not until 1996, 100 years after the fact, brought them a Gold Life-Saving Medal, the Coast Guard's highest peacetime honor. More than one man's story, this mix of personal and institutional biography brings to life the daily challenges and triumphs of blacks pushed aside, but no less valuable, in a New South. For collections on maritime, local, and African American history. Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

A jumbled and speculative—but also affecting—biography of the leader of the only all-black unit of the US Life-Saving Service, stationed at Pea Island, North Carolina, in the final decades of the 19th century. Wright (English/Univ. of Illinois) and Zoby (English/Caspar Coll.) faced a daunting task—to chart the life of Etheridge, born a slave on January 16, 1842. As the authors note, the documentary record for slaves is slender even in the best of circumstances, and so they were forced to paint much historical background and give Etheridge's story a colorful context, if not a sharp focus. And so they provide 100 pages of Civil War history, chronicling the exploits of Etheridge's "African Brigade" (he enlisted in August 1863) but not of Etheridge himself, for his personal experiences are largely unknown. At times this material (published elsewhere in much detail) is superfluous. Once the war ends, however, and Etheridge returns to the Outer Banks, the authors are on firmer historical ground. The characteristic stormy weather in the region caused many shipwrecks, so between 1873 and 1874 the federal government established stations for the Life-Saving Service (or LSS—the agency that would one day be replaced by the Coast Guard). Etheridge, who had distinguished himself as an LSS surfman, earned an appointment as keeper of Station 17 in 1880. The whites on the crew promptly quit, so (with approval from his superiors) he appointed an all-black crew that became exemplary—largely due to Etheridge's devotion to duty, his strict schedule of drills, and the enormous respect he enjoyed along the coast. Wright and Zoby are at their best when narrating some the excitingrescues—the one in the prologue is a gem of adventure-writing. But the story lacks a compelling organization, and the narrative occasionally drifts like flotsam. And the lack of end- or footnotes will retard subsequent scholarship. At times clumsy, but nonetheless an important story of perseverance in the face of natural disasters and unspeakable racism.

Kirkus Reviews