A native of Danvers Massachusetts, Shoshanna McCollum became a resident of Fire Island in 1994, upon being hired as Curator of the Ocean Beach Historical Society.
Her freelance writing career began with a bi-weekly community newspaper column with the "Fire Island Tide" in the year 2000.
She has reported for a number of local and regional Long Island newspapers including the Islip Bulletin, Suffolk County News, Long Island Advance, Fire Island News, Boating Times Long Island, and an essay published in the New York Times Long Island Section. Published works have earned her journalism awards with the New York Press Association and Long Island Press Club.
"Fire Island: Beach Resort and National Seashore" was McCollum's first book, as well as the only published photo-essay history about the barrier island at that time. It is a concise chronicle that begins with shipwrecks and lifesaving mobilization efforts that define Fire Island in the 19th Century, followed by its dramatic emergence as a vacation resort for an upwardly mobile middle-class throughout the 20th Century and into the first decade of the new millennium.
To mark the 50th anniversary of Fire Island National Seashore, as well as the National Park Service Centennial, her publisher invited her to write a companion volume. The end result being "Fire Island" released in 2014. It is one of the maiden titles in Arcadia Publishing's "Images of Modern America" series.
In conjunction with her books, Shoshanna has enjoyed public speaking engagements with museums and libraries across Long Island, that have been well received by audiences for their humor and poignancy.
Shoshanna is a graduate of New York School of Visual Arts. Since 2015, Shoshanna has been Editor of Fire Island News, Fire Island's longest running news publication. Married to her husband John since 1999, they reside year-round on Fire Island with a menagerie of beloved cats and creatures in Ocean Beach.
Published Works:
Fire Island
The birth of Fire Island's modern era may well be the day it was declared a national seashore--September 11, 1964. From this day on, the barrier island would remain forever persevered under custody of the National Park Service.
Today, automobiles are the exception, not the rule, thanks to men and women who fought to prevent a paved highway from being constructed on the barrier island over 50 years ago. The island's culture has always embraced its own distinct path. Fire Island's maritime roots are still evident and alternate lifestyles flourish, while the simple and mundane pleasures of a beautiful day at the beach remain intact.
Fire Island continues to spark the imagination of tourists, vacationers, and residents alike who revel in the beauty of this unique place. Today, Fire Island is so many things to so many people.
Fire Island: Beach Resort and National Seashore
Fire Island is a string of communities and parks, gay and straight bars, boats and bridges, beach umbrellas and bungalows--all bound together by the pristine white sand of the island's beach.
This 32-mile-long barrier island off the coast of Long Island has been defined by legendary shipwrecks and heroic lifesaving in the 19th century, but also kindled by menacing storms and a web of sociological intrigue as an upwardly mobile American middle class sought out vacation homes and coastal recreation during the 20th century.
From cholera protests at the Surf Hotel in 1892 to a grassroots campaign to prevent a highway that ultimately established Fire Island National Seashore in 1964, Fire Island's history is a grand melodrama that has caught world attention. Publisher, Arcadia Publishing 2012
A native of Danvers Massachusetts, Shoshanna McCollum became a resident of Fire Island in 1994, upon being hired as Curator of the Ocean Beach Historical Society.
The birth of Fire Island's modern era may well be the day it was declared a national seashore--September 11, 1964. From this day on, the barrier island would remain forever persevered under custody of the National Park Service.
Fire Island is a string of communities and parks, gay and straight bars, boats and bridges, beach umbrellas and bungalows--all bound together by the pristine white sand of the island's beach.
