Memoirs of a Dockmaster

The harbor is one of the Pines’ most distinctive features. In the late 1980s it was its own kind of theater-- a floating stage where yachts, ferries, and seaplanes carried an ever-changing cast of characters, ranging from celebrities like Madonna, Peter Allen, and Liza Minnelli to foreign dignitaries guarded by men with Uzis to hundreds of drag queens arriving in full regalia for the July 4th Invasion. Henderson Rose was a dockmaster from 1986 to 1990 and had a front row seat to it all. From chatting with Tony Randall on the docks to sipping cocktails with Joan Rivers and helping to keep order as throngs of revelers flowed between Tea, house parties, and the Pavilion, his memories of those summers are as fresh as if they happened yesterday.