Along the wide waters of eastern North Carolina, the people of many
scattered villages separated by creeks, marshes, and rivers depend
on shallow-water boats, both for their livelihoods as fishermen and
to maintain connections with one another and with the rest of the
world. As Lawrence S. Earley discovered, each workboat has stories
to tell, of boatbuilders and fishermen, and of family members and
past events associated with these boats. The rich history of these
hand-built wooden fishing boats, the people who work them, and the
communities they serve lies at the heart of Earley's evocative new
book of essays, interviews, and photographs.
In conversations with the region's fishermen and boatbuilders, the
author finds webs of decades-old social history and realizes that
workboats are critical in maintaining a community's memories and
its very sense of identity. Including nearly 100 of Earley's own
striking duotones, this richly illustrated book brings to life the
world of a fishing culture threatened by local and global
forces.