Fisher Island

History, by its very nature, is interesting or it wouldn't be history, not worthy of preserving. But some chronicles are more fascinating than others, crowded with drama, larger-than-life characters and improbable events that seem more made up than factual. Such is the case with Miami Beach and Fisher Island, two bodies of land that used to be one, bound forever by geography and circumstance. Their story and the stories of the men and women who have made these places unforgettable are recounted here in suitable narrative style. Call it history in sound bites, told in cocktail conversation, recounted in anecdotes almost too captivating to be true. As time goes by it gets increasingly harder to separate fact from fancy, especially when the people involved were giants to begin with. The stories about them are so much fun to hear that they are told over and over until they become legend. This is history less concerned with the way things were as the way they should have been. It is history befitting a place more fairy tale than real. A place which, like the stories they tell about it, seems too good to be true. Mostly, then, this book is about Fisher Island. The way it was, is now and will be tomorrow. And the fortunate few who have reaped a legacy and lifestyle most of the world can only imagine.