Aycock Brown on the Outer Banks

Long before the Outer Banks became a sought-after vacation destination, it was wild, remote, and largely unknown to the wider world. That it became a household name owes an enormous debt to one tireless man: Aycock Brown. A writer, publicist, and photographer almost always spotted in his straw hat with cameras slung around his neck, Brown shot more than 100,000 images of the barrier islands and, as the first director of the Dare County Tourist Bureau, mailed his stories and photographs to newspapers across the country, earning the nickname Mr. Tourism. His most famous frame captured the Wright Brothers Memorial beneath a crescent moon on the very night of the first moon landing. In this affectionate regional history, John Railey, Outer Banks devotee and former Winston-Salem Journal editor, chronicles the colorful life and lasting legacy of the man who, quite literally, put the Outer Banks on the map. Available now at Spindle & Spine Bookstore.