THE LOST BOYS OF MONTAUK

The True Story of the Wind Blown, Four Men Who Vanished at Sea,
and the Survivors They Left Behind

The author of The Lost Boys of Montauk, Amanda Fairbanks

By Lori Zelenko

There’s no end to the praise for The Lost Boys of Montauk: The True Story of the Wind Blown,  Four Men Who Vanished at Sea, and the Survivors They Left Behind (Gallery Books) by Sag Harbor author Amanda M. Fairbanks: “Riveting” (WSJ). “Sweeping” (Vanity Fair). “A must-read” (Town & Country).

It’s been called “an exploration of a community, a sociological study, and a tender probe of what it means to choose a life that is always on the brink of destruction” (Newsweek). The New York Times called it, “honest and touching.” There’s no question THE LOST BOYS OF MONTAUK is unputdownable reading, a natural choice for a sojourn out East, a portrait of Montauk then and now and a genuine rendering of the families who were faced with the perfect storm of grief. Find the new paperback release at BookHampton, East Hampton.

THE WIND BLOWN AT SEA

What began as routine in March of 1984 did not take long to become tragic. The commercial fishing boat Wind Blown left Montauk Harbor on what was an anticipated to be an easy offshore voyage. The boat’s owner and leader of the four-man crew, was a married father of three young boys, far from a risk taker and yet far from informed about unpredictable weather and the equally unpredictable dynamics of his newly formed crew, two locals and the blue-blooded son of a well-to-do summer family looking to discard his legacy and embrace an authentic if comparatively blue-collar life.

After a week out in the Atlantic with a plan to take advantage of the plentitude of tilefish, the foursome collided with a nor’easter, weather they did not have the tools to forecast or the experience to navigate. They soon found themselves in the fight of their lives. Tragically, it was a fight they lost. Neither the boat nor the bodies of the men were ever recovered. The downing of the Wind Blown, the second-worst nautical disaster suffered by a Montauk-based fishing vessel in over a hundred years, has since become interwoven with the local folklore of the East End’s year-round population. Its tragic fate will never be forgotten.

A DRINKING TOWN WITH A FISHING PROBLEM

Family and brotherhood are the themes the story explores, the collision between the affluent and the less privileged in this East End fishing community. The book tracks the transition of Montauk from a working-class village—“a drinking town with a fishing problem”—to a playground for the uber rich, a place that was once populated with rough-hewn fishermen who risked their lives even on a sunny day for a catch that would wind up on the tables of the rich and fabulous. A spot once isolated now populated with sleek surfing dudes and happening bars known for cocktail wizardry.

Amanda Fairbanks reveals the reasons why an event more than three decades old remains so startlingly vivid in people’s minds. Fairbanks notes, “I wanted to understand how tragedies become imprinted in our memories, how trauma and grief wend their way through generations and become a kind of inheritance bequeathed to our descendants.” With poignancy, The Lost Boys of Montauk looks at how our memories of the dead inform our lives long after those we’ve loved have gone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In this “riveting man-vs.-nature story and compelling tribute to those who perished” (Kirk us Reviews), journalist Amanda M. Fairbanks who lives with her family in Sag Harbor, has worked as a writer for The New York Times and as a reporter for HuffPost, and The East Hampton Star, seeks out the reasons why an event more than three decades old remains so startlingly vivid in people’s minds. She explores the ways in which deep, lasting grief can alter people’s memories. And she shines a light on the powerful and sometimes painful dynamics between fathers and sons, as well as the secrets that can haunt families from beyond the grave.

MEET THE AUTHOR

BOOKHAMPTON EAST HAMPTON FRIDAY, JUNE 24 5:00 PM

MUST WATCH VIDEO

An insider’s look at the true story and local legend that inspired the new book, The Lost Boys of Montauk.

ADDED BONUS VIDEO

A revealing, genuinely from the heart discussion of the local lore surrounding the Wind Blown and its vanished crew. Author, Sag Harbor’s Amanda Fairbanks, in conversation with Henry Osmers, Montauk Lighthouse historian.