cover image FIRE ON THE BEACH: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers

FIRE ON THE BEACH: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers

David Wright, . . Scribner, $26 (336pp) ISBN 978-0-684-87304-6

Etheridge, a slave from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, fought in the Civil War before returning to Pea Island to head the first all-black Life-Saving Service unit, the forerunner of the modern Coast Guard. Wright, assistant professor of English at the University of Illinois, and Zoby, who teaches at Caspar College, readily admit they know little about Etheridge himself; though literate, he apparently confined his writing to terse entries in his logbook. So they construct this account of his adventures from his troops' movements in the war and the subsequent development of the Life-Saving Service, whose "surfmen" were important role models since shipwrecks and rescues were pivotal in North Banks culture. Just as black soldiers had to work twice as hard as whites to prove their worth, so Etheridge's rescue unit held itself to extraordinary standards. Yet while the authors studied public records and interviewed locals about this fascinating history, they never hit their stride. In particular, several narrative sequences entitled "The Life of a Surfman" are unconvincingly personal. A straightforward history of Outer Banks black culture or a historical novel would have worked better than this turgid, speculative hybrid, which leans too often on tragic shipwrecks for drama. Details of battle strategy, storm movements and the rescue stations' geography are difficult to follow for lack of maps. Simple diagrams of the two major pieces of rescue technology—the Lyle gun and the surfboat—would also have been helpful. Still, African-American, Civil War and naval history enthusiasts will find this of interest. (July)