Book Discussion and Signing with Kathleen Donnelly – October 20, 2023 @ 2PM

“Lost Tucker’s Island” is a fascinating and engaging work that explores an island that disappeared into the sea. Long before tourists started coming to LBI, people sailed from Tuckerton to the island then called Sea Haven. Later renamed Tucker’s Island, it lost its popularity when a causeway was built to the larger island in 1914. Those who remained on the six-mile island had a hardscrabble life of maintaining the lighthouse and Coast Guard Station. They lived off the land as best they could by fishing, hunting, and clamming. They were often battered by wind and tides. The author was fortunate to meet Arthur Cox, a longtime resident of the area, whose mother, father, and aunt lived on the island in 1920. After many interviews, they became friends. Kay was intrigued, then determined to write a story about the island right off LBI that, like Atlantis, succumbed to the sea. It was important to her to capture the character of the people who lived there: good people who worked hard to save the lives of those who sailed in treacherous waters. As Mrs. Donnelly commented, “Tucker’s Island is gone, but those who lived there should not be forgotten.”