Harry W. Havemeyer is a fourth generation summer resident of the town of Islip, whose family first came to the Great South Bay in 1884. Along the Great South Bay is the first of a trilogy of Great South Bay books for which Havemeyer won the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquites’  Howard C. Sherman Award in 1997. The series continues with East Along the Great South Bay and Fire Island's Surf Hotel. Havemeyer has also written a number of books on his family's history, notably Henry Osborne Havemeyer: "The Most Independent Mind," a biography of his grandfather, and Merchants of Williamsburgh, an account of the sugar refining industry in 19th century Brooklyn. He lives with his wife in New York City and Islip, Long Island.