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John Hanc Tackles Jones Beach History in Latest Book

Author chronicles unique meaning of Long Island landmark.

Originally published in 2007, "Jones Beach: An Illustrated History"(Globe Pequot Press), has been recently released in paperback form this year. The book is devoted to chronicling the unique history of this famous state park and is written by fellow Long Islander and longtime Jones Beach attendee John Hanc.

Hanc, a longtime contributing writer for Newsday and a devoted runner, grew up in Malverne and as a child attended the Jones Beach regularly. Today he can be found at the crack of dawn running an eight-mile track from Jones Beach Field Six down to the West End 2 parking lot, and then back again.

The everlasting effect Jones Beach has on people is not unique to Hanc, and throughout the 202-page book he tells stories that touch upon how the beach has impacted people's lives in different ways.

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"I can tell you from the nearly 50 book talks I've done around Long Island (at historical societies, libraries, bookstores) the past three years, that Jones Beach exerts a powerful hold on many people here," said Hanc, who teaches journalism at the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury and has authored six previous books. "The scale of Jones Beach is epic."

Hanc takes readers back to the early drawing boards of Jones Beach, when there was just one causeway to take people to Long Island landmark. He then carves his own story detailing every step of the way Long Island State Parks Commissioner Robert Moses took to build Jones Beach in the 1920's.

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"The beach has always been built around activity," said Hanc. "That's what Moses and his patron (New York State) Gov. Al Smith wanted. "They saw parks and the opportunity to 'recreate' and breath clean fresh air and get active as being critical to public health (which when you think of it, was a pretty forward-thinking view back in the 1920s."

The book is full of tidbits of information about the origins of Jones Beach such as how it got its name, which comes from Major Thomas Jones, a pirate who went onto own much of the land that now bears his name. Hanc explains in the book how Jones while fighting along the battered Irish army trying to win its independence from England, became a hired pirate that wound up on the shores of Long Island and eventually became a respected entrepreneur in the area.

For further information on "Jones Beach: An Illustrated History, log onto the book's website.

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