The Revolutionary War in the Lymes started as a rebellion of ideas. From its origins in the Cromwellian Saybrook Colony, Lyme (today's Lyme, Old Lyme, East Lyme and Salem) prospered under the free hand of self-governance and spurned King George III's efforts to rein in the wayward colonies. In 1765, Reverend Stephen Johnson wrote incendiary missives against the Stamp Act. A few years later, the town hosted its own Tea Party, burning one hundred pounds of British tea near the town green. When the alarm came from Lexington in 1775, Lyme's citizens were among the first to answer. Historians Jim Lampos and Michaelle Pearson explore how local Patriots shaped an epic revolt.

David Enders, pilot for the French Army during the Great War, returns to Connecticut after wandering post-war France with a condition similar to shell-shocked men from the trenches. At home he must contend with a difficult father, a sister locked in a mysterious post-influenza coma, and a volatile country still in the grips of wartime paranoia and civil liberty restrictions. He finds work building houses in Old Lyme, a summertime town of bootleggers, rum runners, flappers, clammers, crooked deputies, and the famous Old Lyme Art Colony whose impressionist painters don’t want their bucolic landscapes marred by cookie-cutter cottages. Enders falls in love with one of those artists, but encircled by suffocating customs, illiberal laws, and petty criminals, they’re looking for an escape.

Old Lyme, Lyme and East Lyme were once one town, founded in the 1600s. Known for early innovations in industry, government and education, these towns also share a wealth of overlooked history. Discover the taverns where Patriots met during the Revolution, the Diving Horses at the Golden Spur Amusement Park and the Spiritualist Camp that has held séances since 1882. Meet the smuggler captain who routinely escaped prison to visit his wife, the Revolutionary War veteran who trailblazed the West and the abolitionist who helped Frederick Douglass escape to freedom. Authors Jim Lampos and Michaelle Pearson weave a fascinating tapestry of local legends, history and lore.

Old Lyme's illustrious history owes much to innovative women. Suffragist Katharine Ludington was co-founder of the League of Women Voters. In the 1830s, Phoebe Griffin Noyes started a school for art and general subjects. At the turn of the twentieth century, Florence Griswold welcomed the artists of the Lyme Art Colony by creating the "Birthplace of American Impressionism." By World War II, Teddy Kenyon had made her mark as a test pilot. Old Lyme's artistic tradition was continued by Elisabeth Gordon Chandler, who founded the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in 1976. Authors Michaelle Pearson and Jim Lampos honor the women whose triumphs made Old Lyme the popular summer resort and artists' colony it is today.

Written by Old Lyme residents Jim Lampos and Michaelle Pearson, Rum Runners is an intricately researched, intriguing exploration of the beach communities from Griswold Point in the west to Point O' Woods in the east. Illustrations include a map of the Old Lyme shoreline, decades-old newspaper clippings and postcards, and original photographs. Paperback, 88 pages.

Old Lyme, Lyme and East Lyme were once one town, founded in the 1600s. Known for early innovations in industry, government and education, these towns also share a wealth of overlooked history. Discover the taverns where Patriots met during the Revolution, the Diving Horses at the Golden Spur Amusement Park and the Spiritualist Camp that has held séances since 1882. Meet the smuggler captain who routinely escaped prison to visit his wife, the Revolutionary War veteran who trailblazed the West and the abolitionist who helped Frederick Douglass escape to freedom. Authors Jim Lampos and Michaelle Pearson weave a fascinating tapestry of local legends, history and lore.

A mile away the white beach of a little, land-locked bay shimmered under the morning sun, and the drooping fronds of the cocos hung listless and silent, waiting for the rising of the south-east trade. "Paul," I said, "it is very hot here. Come on shore with me to the native village, where it is cooler, and I will make you a big drink of lime-juice." I helped him to rise-for he was weak from a bad attack of New Guinea fever-and two of our native crew assisted him over the side into my whaleboat. A quarter of an hour later we were seated on mats under the shade of a great wild mango tree, drinking lime-juice and listening to the lazy hum of the surf upon the reef, and the soft croo, croo of many "crested" pigeons in the branches above.