In the spring of 2010, my email box was inundated with writers looking for the softer side of the story of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and following oil spill disaster. These seekers of a different angle flocked to my bayou to interview my shrimping neighbors. As a wetland advocate, I wondered how I could use this man-made disaster as a platform to further the cause of education and awareness.
It became clear to me early on that most of the journalists who arrived at my door really had no clue about our culture and way of life. So, if they wanted a story about how the oil spill had impacted us, then they must humor me and allow me to educate them about this vanishing ecosystem and its people.
What these well-meaning journalists needed first was a foundational perspective from the standpoint of a population of coastal communities who were suffering yet one more blow to their way of life. As a woman who lives, works, and fishes here, I could give them that perspective, which was simply this:
This oil spill was not an isolated disaster for the people of coastal Louisiana. It was like being kicked when we were already down. And here’s why.
I just watched this on this page, and the audio is dragging. Is it doing that for all viewers? Let me know, please!
Sounds – and looks – great here! What a fantastic mini-bio – with more to come apparently!
“Tenacity over tears” – GREAT line.
Thank you, my dear Captain. Are things crazy busy up in Canada? And cold? Great hearing from you.
Aye – crazy-busy indeed…expanding Apothecary at the shop (among other things)…mulling over plans for our next visit in the spring!
Weather has been decent – only a bit cool, but nice sunny weekend!
Sounds and looks good here.
Thanks.
Great piece! Looks and sounds great! No problems. Happy Thanksgiving week!
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Linda. (Have you noticed I’m behind on my blog reading? Shame on me!) Maybe I’ll catch up soon enough.
I just watched. No problems. It was fantastic!!! It was a great story. What I really want to know is do you bring your computer out to your boat and type your posts from there??? 🙂
Ha ha, Kim! Good question! They wanted me typing at the camp, but they ran out of time AND the camp was booked with customers, so we had to fake it. Hope nobody else notices. Oops, the secret’s out!!
I wish I had waited a day. I watched it real time (I missed the first 10 seconds), then watched it on the link. I had to watch the whole news cast again. I thought I could skip over everything till I got to your place in the show. WRONG! BTW, I thought you did just as good the second time. LOL
Awesome plug for you Wendy! You are getting well known all over south Louisiana! Kudos!!! You’re a natural now, lol! 🙂
Thank you, Darlene. When you coming down this way?
This is so impressive and great on many levels! Wonderful job. You’re furthering the cause and getting info to the public, you’re getting good free marketing for your business, and you’re showing what an appealing life style there can be there, if things are environmentally healthy.And you look
great, too! I really enjoyed this and hope there are more of these to come. Keep it up!
Usually the focus is on the wetlands, which I’m more than happy to do, it’s my forte`, but she wanted to feature this blog, and I like the “one mouse click at a time” reference!
So what time is dinner? Looks like probably stuck in Illinois for T Day boxing in back porch. Bleak day here tummy is mad about sea salt rosemary flatbread and fake crab salad.
Hey, have a great week. Oh and I want to know about these Montana people? Tennis shoes or boots?
Tennis shoes/boat shoes. They camp. They hike. They fish. They bird. Wife Life list of Birds. Hubby life list of fish caught, sorta like Choup. From Bozeman. Very cool people. Key words: FAKE CRAB. Nuff said.
OK–It’s time you get some recogntion for your work. That made my day watching you talk about our bayous. PW has nothing on BW.
Flatter will you get you a cup of coffee at the camp, Etta! LOL! Thank you, my friend.
OK, I’m watching the 10 o’clock news, and guess who’s being featured again!
I stayed up just to see if maybe she did two pieces because she didn’t personally tell me about the 10:00 one. But, it was the same piece. I missed sleep for nothing : )
Nothing? I had acquaintance that was on TV commercial. He got up to watch it every time on. You got to be your own number one fan or go bust.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Have a wonderful day!
Like you, I’ll bet there has been a lot of busy readers this week. I know I have. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!