Island resident Steve McQueeny has published a new history of Block Island, titled “Block Island: From the Glaciers to the Wind Farm.” He subtitled the book, “Everything you wanted to know about the island, but didn’t know who to ask.”
The Block Island Times had an email chat with McQueeny about the book.
BIT: First of all, congratulations! You have a new book about Block Island that starts when the island was formed by glacial activity. Tell us when you got the idea for the book, and how you started your research process?
SM: I have always had a keen interest in local history. In the 1970s I wrote a history of my hometown of Briarcliff Manor, New York. As time went on, I developed the same interest in our adopted home of Block Island, where I have now spent more than half my life. I would say that my interest in Block Island was sparked by my friend and neighbor, Richard “Dickie” Kiley, former First Warden who loved all things Block Island. I began by reading in detail “Livermore’s History of Block Island, Rhode Island,” published in 1877 by
