The Block Island Historical Society will hold its annual meeting next weekend, with a book signing by a member of a Point Judith fishing family who has just written a book about the fishermen in the port just across Block Island Sound.

Cindy Follett Guldemond is a freelance author who has just published her first piece, “Salt of the Sea, Stories told by the fishermen of Point Judith.” She grew up along the shores of Point Judith, just across Block Island Sound; she knew most all the characters well. Guldemond’s life with her three brothers was centered around the waters of Salt Pond where all four of them had some sort of boat. Her dad was a fisherman, and all three brothers followed in his footsteps, as many other families did in that area and generation.

Guldemond’s father worked for and alongside many fishermen who grew up in Block Island. One of his first fishing jobs in the early 1950s was on the Whitestone, owned and captained by “Dub” Silas Barrows, who still resides on the island to this day.

Her father also ran Dub’s next fishing boat, the Portugal, and Bob Conley, another islander, worked for him as a crewmember. Fred Jones also worked on several of the boats that came and went out of Block Island; he was a native islander as well.

The book tells the stories of 28 men, where they were brought up, how they got started in the fishing business and the stories they remember about their life on the sea.

The annual meeting is Saturday, Sept. 22. It starts at 4 p.m., with Guldmond to follow at 4:30 p.m. with a book signing and refreshments.