from www.MayberryByTheSea.com :
AS IF CAUGHT IN A TIME WARP, Topsail Island resembles the resorts of decades past. The barrier island off the North Carolina coast has the small-town feel of a family beach, a place with few commercial trappings whose devotees return generation after generation.
In "Topsail Island: Mayberry by the Sea," Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Ray McAllister tells the many stories of Topsail with the help of those who love the island best. He blends current-day interviews with stories of early pirates, devastating hurricanes, a 1940s dig in search of a 1630 Spanish galleon's treasure, the U.S. government's secret rocket program, a modern-day sea-turtle preservation project, and a black bear who came to stroll the beach.
"Topsail Island: Mayberry by the Sea" has been praised by The Charlotte Observer, Our State magazine, The Wilmington Star-News, The Pender Post, Topsail Magazine and The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Wilmington's News/Talk radio station named it book of the month. "Mayberry" went into four printings (two hardcover, two paperback) within four months of release in July 2006. A fifth printing, third hardcover, has just come out.
