Potluck

Potluck by Jack Rudloe. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781892590374.

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 cant 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 Lupinos 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 Rudloes thrilling novel. The inside story of this culturally rich area is finally told.