Stu Markus: Singer-Songwriter-Performer Arranger-Music Historian A fixture on Long Island’s folk and acoustic scene since the mid-1990s, Stuart Markus has been writing songs since middle school and has played professionally for nearly three decades. Listed in Newsday as one of “Long Island’s Best” and sometimes called the Island’s “hardest-working man in folk music,” Stuart actually grew […]

  Mark C. Nuccio: Artist, Poet, and Author. Mark C. Nuccio is an an accomplished artist, poet, and author with over 55 years of  dedication to his craft.    He has exhibited his paintings and woodcuts in over forty group and solo shows, including the prestigious Library of Congress, which holds three of his works […]

Craig Oddo: Bayman and Fisherman Craig Oddo lives in Glen Cove on the North Shore of Long Island. He is a full-time bayman and fisherman. Craig catches eels, conch, clams and other types of fish and shellfish. He uses a garvey, a flat bottom boat, so that he can go into shallow creeks and harbors […]

Pete Wenczel: Fisherman and Bayman Born in New York City, and raised in suburban New Jersey, Pete spent his childhood summers in Southold, where he first learned to swim, sail, fish, and clam. By the time he was a young man, he knew that he wanted to make his living off the water. As he […]

Ed Thomas: Commercial Fisherman and Bayman Ed Thomas was born in Baldwin, NY, and has been fishing for as long as he can remember. His started his first business at eight years old, digging soft shell clams and putting them in a basket on his bicycle, and selling them house to house down the street. […]

Chuck Tekula: Bayman and Fisherman Chuck Tekula is a commercial fisherman from Center Moriches. College educated at Empire State College in New York, Chuck frequently writes about the lives of commercial fishermen, the regulations, and policies that affect them, and what has led to the decline of Great South Bay. He was one of the […]

Photo: Tommy Stewart

Tommy Stewart: Decoy Carver/Shorebirds Tom Stewart is a decorative decoy carver, who is also a recreational hunter. Like other traditional decoy carvers. Tom’s interest in carving can be traced to his family, especially his grandfather Dave Stewart and his lather Russell. Dave and Russell spent many hours when Tom was just a young boy making […]

Photo: Joey Scavone

Joey Scavone: Fisherman Joey Scavone was born in Freeport and began fishing with his father, a devoted recreational fisherman. Like most recreational fishermen, his father awoke young Joey in the early morning hours to go fishing for striped bass and blue fish, which were abundant in the south shore bays near Jones Beach and Captree. “We’d […]

Photo of George Rigby

George Rigby, Jr. — Master Fisherman, Duck Hunter and Decoy Carver George Rigby was born in Bay Shore, Long Island, the descendant of several generations of baymen and duck hunters. His great grandfather and grandfather worked on the bay during the late 1800s and early 1900s in Canarsie near Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn either harvesting […]

Reed Riemer – Master Recreational Fisherman The son of an avid fisherman, Reed got his start fishing with his father at a young age. “He would come home and go on the jetties,” said Reed. “He was a surf fisherman at first, and then he started getting boats. Mostly he would take me on the […]