Close to Shore (27 page)
In describing the Victorian era and its evolution to Edwardian times—the values and struggles with change that Eugene and Louisa Vansant brought to the beach—I relied on
Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life, 1876–1915,
by Thomas J. Schlereth. Useful as well was
Victorian Minds: A Study of Intellectuals in Crisis and Ideologies in Transition
, by Gertrude Himmelfarb. My portrayal of the relationship of Dr. Eugene Vansant and his son, Charles, is partly based on readings of
Dandies and Desert Saints: Styles of Victorian Manhood
, by James Eli Adams, and
Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America
, by Mark C. Carnes.
The Internet proved an invaluable resource, from the many excellent Victorian scholarship Web sites to my online subscription to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica.
My understanding of the Jersey coast and shipwrecks was enhanced by an excellent Web site for New Jersey divers,
www.njscuba.com
.
For the opulence of the Gilded Age, especially the popularity of diamonds in New York City, I am in debt to the vivid history in
Gilded City: Scandal and Sensation in Turn-of-the-Century New York,
by M. H. Dunlop.
In my attempt to create the popular texture of the era—home, foods, fashions, railroads, automobiles, architecture,
Victrolas, newsreels, pulps—I relied on contemporary newspaper accounts and a number of books. To re-create automobile journeys, particularly John T. Nichols's, I used
Scarborough's Official 1916 New York Automobile Association Tour Book for New York, New Jersey, Canada and the East.
Finally, my thanks to the librarians and archivists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York; the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Florida;
the New York Public Library; the Free Library of Philadelphia; the Ocean County Library in Tom's River, New Jersey; the Asbury Park Library; the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library; the Spring Lake Historical Society; the University of Pennsylvania Library and archives; Temple University's Urban Archives; the Thomas Jefferson University Library and Archives; the Smithsonian Institution; the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science; the American Philosophic Society in Philadelphia; the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.; the Library of Congress; and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. The U.S. Coast Guard provided the log of the U.S. revenue cutter
Mohawk,
which fought the short-lived “war on sharks,” as well as the records of Captain Carden and other officials of the Coast Guard.
Although there is a tendency to romanticize publishing houses and editors of the past, it is hard to imagine an editor in any time more devoted, intense, or talented than Charlie Conrad, executive editor of Broadway Books. This book could not have existed in its form of history, science, and narrative without his vision, passion, and literary gifts. I quickly learned I was not the only person kept up nights thinking about the best ways to tell this story, and for that, Charlie, I am most grateful. Becky Cole, assistant editor, pulled off the rare triple crown of being diamond-sharp, reassuring, and ever calm under pressure. Sharks don't float, but Becky did, ever protecting and perfecting this book. Special thanks to my agent, David Vigliano, whose genius is to see simultaneously into a market and a writer's soul. David somehow manages to follow me and lead me at the same time, always to the right place. Broadway Books was that place, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the people who made me feel like a swimmer with a dozen lifeguards: managing editor Rebecca Holland, marketing director Catherine Pollock, publicity director Betsy Areddy, jacket designer Patti Ratchford, text designer Richard Oriolo—whose designs I cherish—as well as the incredible cavalry-to-the-rescue copy editor Johanna Tani and typesetter Tina Thompson. My late father, William Capuzzo, a salesman for several New York publishing houses, would have been thrilled, as I am, by the efforts of the Random House West sales force.
My most heartfelt thanks go to my daughter, Grace, ten, a poet who listened to me read aloud; my daughter Julia, seven, an artist who decorated my office with drawings of sharks; and my wife, Teresa, whom I am lucky to have for yet another reason: She is a brilliant editor and wordsmith whose eye and ear shadow all these pages.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A National Magazine Award finalist, MICHAEL CAPUZZO has been a feature writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Miami Herald. His stories have also appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Life, and Reader's Digest. He lives with his wife in rural New Jersey.
PRAISE FOR
Close to Shore
“A powerful page-turner that will keep you out of the water for another year.”
—People
“A sepia-toned prewar crime story, imbued with atmosphere and detail.”
—Newsday
“A page-turner, extremely well researched and well written. As a social historian [Capuzzo] is especially good at selection and connecting the disparate information that makes this book something more than the Truth behind
Jaws.”
—Ottawa Citizen
“A killer of a beach story. A riveting rendering of these events.”
—Plain Dealer
“Gripping. Truly exciting”
—Wisconsin Janesville Gazette
“
Close to Shore
not only throws an interesting light on a series of terrifying events, but also puts them in the perspective of an intriguing time. It makes for enlightening and sometimes pulse-pounding reading.”
—Denver Post
“Chillingly real. Capuzzo's blend of
Ragtime
and
Jaws
is difficult to put down.”
—Canadian Press
“Gripping. The bite stuff.
Close to Shore
deftly sets the stage for panic.”
—New York Post
“A chair gripper.”
—Houston Chronicle
“Gripping. Well-turned.”
—St. Louis Dispatch
“Capuzzo's account proves that truth can be scarier than fiction.”
—Boston Herald
“The best beach book of the year may be this thriller about the first shark attacks on American swimmers.”
—Austin American-Statesman
“Vivid and dramatic.”
—Newark
(N.J.)
Star Ledger
“A masterfully constructed saga of beauty and terror that will make you shiver . . . A well-researched and compelling read, with the pace of a suspense novel and the meat of a nonfiction profile of one of the sea's most intriguing creatures.”
—Winston-Salem Journal
“Marvelous. Capuzzo does a masterful job of recreating the gentler rhythms of a bygone era. A superb recreating of both an era and an incident.”
—Flint Journal,
Flint, Michigan
“Riveting.”
—Express News,
San Antonio
“Unbridled suspense, fascinating rich history and sheer terror . . . Written like a great novel, and researched like an eloquent biography.”
—Southbridge Evening News
“A super beach book, readable, suspenseful, and absorbing.”
—Beachcomber
“Capuzzo has created the rare non-fiction page-turner.”
—Connecticut Post
“Capuzzo's account of the 1916 shark attacks on the Jersey shore recaptures the intense drama of the real events . . . riveting doses of sheer terror . . . this is strong stuff.”
—Mark Bowden, author of
Black Hawk Down
and
Killing Pablo
“This monster story is dreadfully true . . . Books like this one just don't come along very often.” —Michael Connelly
“A major achievement . . . Remarkable, among other things, is the author's ability to almost get into the ‘mind' of the shark.” —Gay Talese
“Close to Shore
is a wonderful period piece of America on the cusp of the Roaring Twenties. But at the book's heart is that most mysterious of all sea creatures—the great white—lurking, thinking, calculating, and then acting with its fifty triangular teeth and six tons of per square inch pressure. Read Capuzzo's account of what happened that summer on the Jersey Shore, and then, I dare you, go back in the water.”
—Buzz Bissinger, author of
Friday Night Lights
“With an artistry reminiscent of Stephen Crane's
Whilomville Stories,
Capuzzo chronicles a series of great white shark attacks on swimmers—the first in American history—along the New Jersey coast in the summer of 1916. Chapters that bring the period to life are interspersed with chapters on ichthyology; our modern knowledge of this consummately engineered predator only increases our appreciation of the terror and incredulity that the attacks unleashed. Capuzzo's book is a portrait of the shark as much as of an era, and deserves a place among the adventure classics.”
—The New Yorker
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2001 by Broadway Books
CLOSE TO SHORE.
Copyright © 2001 by Michael Capuzzo.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.,
1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.
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BROADWAY BOOKS
and its logo, a letter B bisected on the
diagonal, are trademarks of Broadway Books,
a division of Random House, Inc.
Visit our website at
www.broadwaybooks.com
First trade paperback edition published 2002.
Map by Laura Hartman Maestro
Title page photo courtesy of John Bailey Lloyd.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Capuzzo, Mike.
Close to shore : the terrifying shark attacks of 1916/Michael Capuzzo.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
1. Shark attacks. 2. Shark attacks—New Jersey—History. I. Title.
QL638.93 .C36 2001
597.3'1566—dc21
2001025750
eISBN: 978-0-7679-1254-9
v3.0