The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous
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Fighting to Save a Way of Life in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina
Ken Wells; With a New Preface
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How a plucky coterie of Louisiana shrimp-boat captains faced down the most destructive hurricane in U.S. history—only to realize that the struggle to preserve their centuries-old culture had just begun
With a long and colorful family history of defying storms, the seafaring Robin cousins of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, make a fateful decision to ride out Hurricane Katrina on their hand-built fishing boats in a sheltered Civil War–era harbor called Violet Canal. But when Violet is overrun by killer surges, the Robins must summon all their courage, seamanship, and cunning to save themselves and the scores of others suddenly cast into their care.
In this gripping saga, Louisiana native Ken Wells provides a close-up look at the harrowing experiences in the backwaters of New Orleans during and after Katrina. Focusing on the plight of the intrepid Robin family, whose members trace their local roots to before the American Revolution, Wells recounts the landfall of the storm and the tumultuous seventy-two hours afterward, when the Robins’ beloved bayou country lay catastrophically flooded and all but forgotten by outside authorities as the world focused its attention on New Orleans. Wells follows his characters for more than two years as they strive, amid mind-boggling wreckage and governmental fecklessness, to rebuild their shattered lives. This is a story about the deep longing for home and a proud bayou people’s love of the fertile but imperiled low country that has nourished them.
Visit the author's website.
Read Ken Wells's thoughts on storytelling in the new issue of Mayborn Magazine.
Click here to listen to an interview with Ken Wells on Book Report
"[An] amazing true story."—Susan Larson, Times-Picayune
"The stories of the survivors . . . are unforgettable. . . . Wells has done a commendable job of bringing the threatened bayous of Louisiana to life."—Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times
"A wonderful book. . . . Unforgettable."—Monroe News-Star [Louisiana]
"Offers a human touch and a compassionate voice to many of [Katrina's] overlooked victims. . . . Not only relevant and timely, it's a terrific read."—William J. Cobb, Dallas Morning News
"Wells has done a great service. . . . Highly readable."—John Sledge, Mobile Press-Register
Publication Date: August 25, 2015
20 b/w illus.
