ISBN 978-1-59322-106-5

What is the authentic Long Beach Island? If you were to list all that you love about this 18-mile-long New Jersey sandbar — favorite things, its rich history and lore, family attachments that may go back generations, beach, ocean and bay activities, lost youth and carefree summers, spiritual sunrises and spectacular sunsets — would that distill LBI to its essence?

There is so much that is timeless and true about this Island. Experiences and feelings are different for everyone, but one fact can not be denied: the emotional connection to LBI is real and deep and as permanent as a tattoo. It is a bond.

All Things LBI: Faves - History - Legends - Lore celebrates this bond with past and present moments, cultural vignettes, observations, memories and delights — and with 480 photographs and images.

Breezily organized into sections including: “The Beach and All That Makes It So,” “All Things Bayside,” “Weather, Storms, and Shipwrecks,” the book also includes natural history, town legends and landmarks, remember-when nostalgia, and the special quality of the off-season. Long-time locals will recognize much; new visitors will be clued-in; young and old will relate. Charming, evocative and cleverly written, inclusive not exclusive (because no one really wants to keep it to themselves), this chunky gift book captures the real Long Beach Island.

All-encompassing, the 183-page hardcover also includes blank note pages at the end for readers to record their own favorite LBI things.

As the book observes: “Those three letters…. They’re loaded with meaning, longing, and emotion. They represent more than just a physical place. More than an identity. They are attached to your soul. …Wherever you are in the world, if you know what those letters mean, they will transport and connect you.”

RAY FISK was one of the first editors and photographers on Long Beach Island's alternative weekly, The SandPaper, joining college friends on the small staff with issue #7, before the paper even had an office. He planned to stay on the Island only through that summer but never left. (LBI does that to people.) Based on the Island, he then worked in the New Jersey and Shore region for over decade and a half as a full-time photojournalist for The New York Times and United Press International as well as other major publications. He founded Down The Shore Publishing from his home in a land-locked houseboat in Harvey Cedars, and has published over 100 titles with nearly three-dozen authors.

LESLEE GANSS, an artist and graphic designer, spent her youthful summers in Harvey Cedars on LBI until moving to the Island year-round. After graduating from the University of the Arts (then called Philadelphia College of Art), she was hired for a ''summer'' job at LBI's young weekly, The SandPaper, and stayed on for 18 years as Art Director. She designs books and publications, and continues to create a weekly editorial cartoon -- The SandPaper's ''Artoon,'' now approaching its 30th year. As an artist and craftsperson she paints, repurposes and up-cycles found objects, helps diamondback terrapins cross roads during nesting season, and has held a baby osprey. She has published two collections of her Artoons.

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