Meet the authors of Rhode Island Clam Shacks by Christopher Martin and David Norton Stone. A visual history of quahogging in the Ocean State. The book was published by The History Press in April 2017.
Steamships once plied the waters of Narragansett Bay, carrying thousands of guests to feasts of clams prepared in every way imaginable at scenic spots like Rocky Point and Crescent Park. After hurricanes and pollution destroyed Rhode Island’s soft-shell clam and oyster beds, the quahog became the state’s favorite bivalve, and Rhode Islanders took to their automobiles and drove to the beach for clam cakes and chowder at the shacks and chowder houses that carried on the old traditions.
Quahogging remains a major business in Rhode Island, where men and women continue to make a living from the sea. The long lines at take-out windows attest that the future of Rhode Island’s clam shacks is secure as they successfully balance changing tastes with time-honored recipes.
Christopher Martin is the curator of Quahog.org, a website about Rhode Island’s history and cultural quirks, and is also the author of a column on Rhode Island food history for Edible Rhody Magazine. Fueled by hot wieners and coffee milk, he lives to track down funky eateries, overgrown cemeteries, and estate sales. He lives in Johnston with his partner, Kim, and a menagerie of cats, reptiles and amphibians, and a dog.
David Norton Stone is the author of Clamcake Summer: One Man Eats Every Clamcake in Rhode Island (Or Dies Frying), and his work as a Rhode Island food historian has been cited by National Geographic and Saveur. David, who once worked at Rocky Point Amusement Park before becoming a lawyer, returned to his hometown of Warwick ten years ago and is currently writing a series of books about the lost restaurants of Rhode Island for the History Press.
Free and open to all.
Copies will be available for sale and signing.
Copies will be available for sale and signing.
