Westhampton

Renowned as part of the Hamptons, the area known today as Westhampton, Westhampton Beach, Quiogue, and West Hampton Dunes was named Catchaponack by the Algonquin tribes who lived in the area when the English sheepherders arrived in the 1660s. A land of breathtakingly beautiful beaches and bays situated on the south shore of Long Island, just 65 miles east of New York City, Westhampton has evolved from an agricultural and fishing village to a summer vacation resort to a year-round oceanfront community. Fortune 500 chief executive officers and celebrities, such as Cary Grant, Charles Addams, and Marvin Hamlisch, have lived quietly amid locals. Together they have survived hurricanes, outlasted raucous night clubs, rebuilt eroded dunes, and fought off real estate developers. Around Westhampton depicts how an area blessed with uncommon physical beauty has managed to remain unspoiled in the face of natural disasters and international fame.

WESTHAMPTON: Golden Days and Memories for a Lifetime is Mansfield’s seventh book. Its preface begins with, “Westhampton is in my blood.” In some 300 pages the author makes his case by telling sometimes hilarious tales of family, friends and situations. He calls his “life experiences in Westhampton...the most joyful in my nearly four score years. They have provided clear and warm memories all the way from childhood to the present day, a span of more than 76 years. The richness of these experiences is inestimable but oh so gratifying, as they were golden days and memories for a lifetime.” In his epilogue Mansfield writes: “An online dictionary defines nostalgia as ‘a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.’ To me these words apply perfectly to my life and times in Westhampton.” It is a funny, story-telling book.

"Sea level is rising, and yet Americans continue to develop beaches with little regard. In this volume, a group of coastal geologists discusses the startling saga of ten U.S. East and Gulf Coast shoreline communities (plus Puerto Rico and some western Europe strands) and the problems created by their inevitable interaction with natural processes in this highly dynamic geologic environment. The authors discuss the geologic context of the hazards of each site as the history of societal responses and their environmental impacts. Response to the natural coastal processes that threaten lives and buildings is carried out in a context of local, state and national politics with fixed short-term engineering solutions (beach replenishment, seawalls) generally favored over longer-term approaches (moving back, prohibition of seawalls). This essential GSA Special Paper foreshadows the impending rise of sea level and the myriad of shoreline responses and political controversies it will provoke."--Publisher's description.