ALABAMA'S YOUNGEST ADMIRALS

by James (Buddy) Estes, Mary Elizabeth Krauel (Editor), Releta Christian (Illustrator)

Overview

This action-packed true story details the adventures of six teenage boys who, for 16 days and nights in the summer of 1957, drifted 385 miles down the Alabama River from Montgomery to Mobile on a 10 x 12 foot raft they built from scrap lumber and discarded oil drums. Using little more than push poles and crude rudder, the teenagers found themselves at the mercy of the sometimes treacherous, sometimes gentle river. Buddy Estes, the author, was one of those teenagers.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940013323803
Publisher:	D'Este Publications
Publication date:	09/20/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

James L. (Buddy) Estes was born and reared in Wetumpka, Alabama, graduating from Wetumpka High School in 1960. He joined the United States Marine Corps and studied accounting during his enlistment. When his enlistment was completed, he became a Certified Public Accountant and now resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with his wife. He recently retired from public accounting. He has two grown children and four grand children.

In the summer of 1957, Buddy and five other boys made a raft trip from Montgomery to Mobil on a 10 by 12 foot raft they built from scrap lumber and discarded oil drums. Their adventures on the 385 mile trip down the Alabama River are detailed in his book entitled ALABAMA�S YOUNGEST ADMIRALS, a 125 page non-fiction story that was selected by Alabama schools for use in supplemental reading in Social Studies, and was on the Alabama Reading Incentive Council Reading List for 1992 and 1993. This true story is one that certainly intrigues the reader and has been described as a modern Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn narrative. It is filled with suspense, danger, humor, history, legendary Indian stories, and alligators in the night.

Estes has spoken to more than 25,000 school children and their parents in Alabama and Louisiana, intriguing them with the flight of �Red Eagle�, and the alligators in the night. He very much enjoys book autographs, speaking to schools children and tries to spark the students� desire to read.

Estes has also compiled a number of recipes in a cookbook. Possum and Sweet Potatoes is a compilation of 435 recipes compiled from hand written pieces of paper in various forms such as school notebook paper, back of envelops, and cardboard pieces. These are recipes handed down from the North Carolina hills through the Coosa, Tallapoosa and Alabama River valley including the Tennessee and Georgia Cherokee Nations, to the Gulf of Mexico shores, as well as from the hills of North Louisiana to the bayous of South Louisiana and finally from the piney woods of East Texas. Some of these recipes have been passed from generation to generation and this complication is an attempt to preserve for future generations.

Editorial Reviews

"... is certain to recharge the memories of those who lived through that era, prod the imagination of young people today, and serve as inspiration for the dreamer that lives within all of us."

Montgomery Advertiser - Blair Robertson

"A well-told timeless tale of adolescent adventure which transcends geography or any other physical boundary."

Mobile Press Register - John Sellers

"I found myself caught up in the adventure and whirling through isolated jetties of laughter and suspense."

Birmingham Post Herald - Janet Jimmerson