Gone to the Swamp: Raw Materials for the Good Life in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta (Alabama Fire Ant) - Softcover

Smith, Robert Leslie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0817354948 ISBN 13: 9780817354947

Publisher: Fire Ant Books, 2008

Synopsis

To make a living here, one had to be capable, confident, clever and inventive, know a lot about survival, be able to fashion and repair tools, navigate a boat, fell a tree, treat a snakebite, make a meal from whatever was handy without asking too many questions about it, and get along with folks.

This fascinating and instructive book is the careful and unpretentious account of a man who was artful in all the skills needed to survive and raise a family in an area where most people would be lost or helpless. Smith’s story is an important record of a way of life beginning to disappear, a loss not fully yet realized. We are lucky to have a work that is both instructive and warm-hearted and that preserves so much hard-won knowledge.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Leslie Smith is descended from loggers, hunters, fishermen, and entrepreneurs.  Now retired, he still lives near the swamp at the head of Mobile Bay, where the Mobile and Tensaw Rivers join.  He served as a Naval Officer in WW-II, and then returned to his teaching profession, nurturing students at Foley High School and finally moving up to Superintendent of Baldwin County, Alabama Schools.
 

Edition details

• Publisher: Fire Ant Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0817354948
• ISBN 13: 9780817354947
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288