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Thirty Seconds with Fay Jacobs. Plus, the Newport Rowing Club’s high tide, a tribute to the dogs of war, Winterthur’s Point-to-Point by the numbers, Carla Markell shares her favorite reads, and Audrey Doberstein hits the hall.
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30 Seconds
A publisher, author and witty writer, Fay Jacobs is a fixture in Rehoboth Beach. Jacobs, a former director of the city’s Main Street program, has published a trilogy of amusing and insightful books about life in the resort, the most recent of which is titled “For Frying Out Loud.”
DT: How did you wind up in Rehoboth?
FJ: My partner Bonnie and I have been coming to Rehoboth Beach for over 15 years. We had a 27-foot cruiser that we used to live on on weekends on the Chesapeake Bay and we decided to relocate the boat down here. In 1999 we bought a house. It’s behind the Food Lion. We call it Schnauzer Haven at Food Lion Estates.
DT: When did you feel you were considered a local?
FJ: I don’t think anybody who wasn’t born in a barn in Selbyville is considered a local (laughing). I think you’re always looked at with suspicion. But because I worked at Main Street and I got to know everybody in the business community, I feel like I’ve been here as long as most people have.
DT: Tell me about the cover image of “For Frying Out Loud.”
FJ: I don’t know if you can print this, but it’s funny. After working with the city all those years, I looked at the book cover and thought, Oh my god, how many illegal things can you do on one book cover? I’m on the beach on a lifeguard stand with a dog and a drink (laughing). It’s a trifecta of illegality.
DT: How much have attitudes changed toward gays and lesbians since you started coming to the area?
FJ: Oh, quite a bit. I think it’s marvelous. Now I may be living under the proverbial rock because I’m living in Rehoboth Beach, and I know it’s not the same everywhere. But I love Rehoboth Beach. We call it Gayberry R.F.D. And it’s the perfect mix of straight and gay and everybody is treated as an individual and a couple. And that’s how life should be.
DT: Everyone gets tired of tourists. Got any pet peeves?
FJ: One of the things that makes me crazy is when people see a parking space and they drop off the frailest person in their car to stand in there until they can come around the block and get it. It’s just stupid.
DT: Where did you get your sense of humor?
FJ: My father. He was very funny. He told me, “Nothing is so terrible, if it’s worth a funny story you can tell about it later.” That’s my philosophy. Somebody told me the other day, “Bad decisions make good stories.”
And that’s really true. —Drew Ostroski
Page 2: A Great Oar-ganization | The fast-growing Newport Rowing Club boosts the local economy while developing the town’s waterfront. Can you say Boathouse Row?
