John Merriam

John Merriam was an unlicensed seaman in the U.S. merchant marine for 12 years while working his way through college and law school. He caught his first ship in 1970, a freighter in New Orleans bound for Saigon with a load of tanks and trucks for ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam). All told, the author worked aboard 17 freighters and tankers in 12 different job classifications for the deck, engine and steward departments.

Other employment, before and between shipping out, included 19 full-time jobs in eight states ranging from carpenter to cab driver, roustabout in the oil fields to factory worker on an assembly line, and almost 20 years part-time as a downhill ski instructor on weekends.

Mr. Merriam received a scholarship from the Seafarers International Union which paid for law school tuition. Passing the bar in 1982, he was associate and then partner at a small law firm in Seattle before starting his own firm in 1996. His first maritime case after law school was to sue Ronald Reagan for shutting down the system of Marine Hospitals (taken over by the U.S. Public Health Service). The case was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court but ultimately failed.

Mr. Merriam now restricts his practice to the representation of individuals with maritime claims for wages and injury. He is a sole practitioner with an office in Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal.

The author lives with his wife, Kaye Walker, in Shoreline, Washington.