“There are odd and interesting histories connected with the names of most of the fishing points at Montauk,” says a bit of unpublished and unattributed writing in the collection of the historian Richard T. Gilmartin in the Montauk Library Archives. “Some are connected with some Historical event, or Shipwreck,” it says. “Others are… Read more »
Richard T. Gilmartin and Frank Tuma Sr. certainly enjoyed surfcasting, as they were doing on this day in the early 1940s on the ocean west of Montauk Point. Tuma in particular was a pioneer of the sport, developing “a snap cast that was extremely efficient at catching striped bass,” according to the Images of America: Montauk book… Read more »
If Montauk ever produced a Renaissance man, it was Richard T. Gilmartin. An insurance businessman who entered politics and fought for people with disabilities, he loved history and surfcasting and shared his passion for both. Richard Gilmartin had started writing a history of Montauk when he died suddenly in 1964. The loss of Gilmartin’s knowledge base was like… Read more »