Jack Rudloe
Woodstork Press; 3rd Edition (March 28, 2015)
THE LIVING DOCK
Overview.
PRAISE |
Sometimes, a dock isn't just a dock. It's a habitat, a living thing.
In the tiny fishing community of Panacea, Florida, the author's floating dock nurtures an abundance of marine life. Crabs, worms, mollusks and algae make their home there, attracting and feeding fish and other creatures higher up the food chain. These also feed the author's business, Gulf Specimen Marine Lab, which supplies specimens to research and teaching institutions: marine fauna from his dock, from nearby mud flats and beaches, and netted offshore from his little shrimp boat, "Penaeus."
This entertaining and educational book looks at the life histories of some of these creatures, and recounts Rudloe's experiences in collecting them, in the process examining man's relationship with the natural world.
3rd edition (March 2, 2015)
POTLUCK
Overview.
PRAISE |
Jack Rudloe set out to write the first nonfiction book about the Gulf Coast shrimping way of life. What he discovered prompted him to write his first novel instead. Many of his sources are anonymous, dead or in prison, making a nonfiction account less than ideal.
Rudloe found that as the tradition of small family fishing is forced into extinction due to ill-conceived regulation, many die-hards refuse to give up their boats and shoreline family property and turn instead to making the dangerous "run" to smuggle drugs and save their families if the risk pays off. What follows is an amazing tale.
Preston Barfield was an upstanding small-family commercial shrimper whose way of life pressures him into accepting an offer he can't refuse.
When Preston gets a panicked call from his brother-in-law Lupino that his boat is on fire, he turns his shrimp trawler offshore to the rescue, only to find Lupino's burning boat filled with smugglers and marijuana.
Hard times and desperation force his hand into adventures that he never imagined. The "Forgotten Coast" is forgotten no longer in Rudloe's thrilling novel. The inside story of this culturally rich area is finally told.
