'Stories That Started Here' recognizes stable of authors in Mastic, Shirley

There's something about the Mastic peninsula that inspires its residents to write.

Short stories, memoirs, children's books, screenplays, novels — dozens of books, essays and articles have emerged from the word processors and typewriters of authors who hail from Mastic, Shirley and Mastic Beach.

More than a dozen writers — all of them graduates or former teachers from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach — will gather Saturday at Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library's main branch in Shirley to meet fans, sign books and discuss their work. The event, "Stories That Started Here: Honoring the Storytellers of Our Community," runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free.

Some of the event's featured speakers said their hometowns played a crucial role in their decisions to pursue a career in letters.

“It’s such a special place and a strange place," memoirist and freelance writer Kelly McMasters, a 1994 William Floyd graduate, said Tuesday in a phone interview. The Shirley native, who teaches writing at Hofstra University, said she was inspired by the hamlet's "natural beauty."

“We’re sort of perched on the edge of the Island,” said McMasters, 49, of Port Washington, whose books include "The Leaving Season," a 2023 collection of essays. “That really created for me an observer status where it sort of felt like we were of the Island, but we were far from New York City and far from the Hamptons.”

McMasters is among 19 published writers — including children's book author Brian Heinz, a former William Floyd teacher; and Ethan DeAbreu, who writes about personal development — scheduled to take part in panel discussions and read from their books, library director Lonna Castro said.

Castro, one of the organizers of the event, said the writers come from “a very talented community," adding, “There's also probably not a shortage of experiences to write about.”

The school district has produced so many writers in spite of student test scores that often rank among the lowest on Long Island. William Floyd was one of 13 Long Island districts flagged by state education officials for subpar performance in the 2022-23 school year. 

The area also is less affluent than its neighbors. Mastic Beach, for example, has a median household income of about $109,000, compared to about $127,000 for Suffolk County as a whole, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

DeAbreu, 30, of Coram, whose books include "The Ink of My Soul and the Fire in My Bones," said the tough upbringing "forced me to focus on my studies.”

"It was a challenging school to grow up in," he said. “For the most part, I was really fortunate to have some great teachers in the area.”

Another of the event's organizers, Jon J. Geraci Jr., a 1977 William Floyd graduate and president of the school's alumni association, said he had suspected the district had produced an unusually high number of successful writers. He found them by searching for "William Floyd authors" on Facebook. 

“I think it’s the educators that we have in the school," Geraci said, mentioning Heinz, who taught science and language arts in the district for about 25 years. 

Heinz, whose children's books include “A Coming of Winter in the Adirondacks” and "Nanuk: Lord of the Ice," said Saturday's gathering features three of his former students: McMasters, poet Michael Tyrell,  and poet/novelist Matthew McGevna. 

Heinz, 78, of Wading River, said he nurtured his students' creativity with trips along the Peconic River and encouraged them to write about what they experienced.

“Some of these kids, once you get them away from their handheld devices, they were seeing great blue herons and muskrats," Heinz said. "They saw Long Island the way it was 200 years ago, and it made an impression."

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.