Welcome aboard the third volume of THE CHESAPEAKE - This book, THE CHESAPEAKE: Oyster Buyboats, Ships & Steamed Crabs, spans the decades of the lives of our writers and the times of the Chesapeake Tidewater region from 1900 to the present time. A first person account of Chesapeake Bay bounty being harvested and provided to the national market is related by Capt. Joe Lore of Solomon's Island, along with an interview with his father, Capt. J. C. Lore Sr. from fifty years earlier. Pepper Langley relished his days of establishing his own business after his high school commencement speaker told him he had a gold mine in his back yard. The story telling of Vi Englund is superb as she wrote vivid descriptions of going to sea. Get lost in the middle of roaring Atlantic storms in her ship's galley and appreciate the majesty of the sea. Mark Robbins provides entertaining tales of sailing and Cap'n Larry Jarboe cannot be beat when it comes to knowing where the fish are hanging out and how to get them on your hook. The Country Philosopher, Stephen Gore Uhler got an elbow from another philosopher, Amos Arthur Holmes but Steve wins overall for truthfulness, not a trait he learned from Jack Rue. Between Jack Rue and Fred McCoy, old tales are here for a new generation of tale-learners eager to find digital news of days of old. Some of the old gold mines of The Solomon's Islander and The Chesapeake have been reopened and we found Tony Marconi and Lenny Rudow hiding back in the caverns, grinning and eager to share their news and views with the world. The Bill Burton State Park at Cambridge, to the Cape Charles harbor shown on the cover, unite both shores of the Chesapeake to bring you, the reader, who may or may not dabble in U-Boat fantasies and time-warps, a complete view of the Tidewater region. The Tidewater area contributed to the birth of Rock and Roll with the infamous home-grown talent of Link Wray and Greg Laxton makes sure Link's place in history is secure. No part of the Chesapeake lore could be complete without more Letters from Point Lookout Hotel, and while Alan Brylawski is now ninety-six, he refuses to join the Dead Poets Society. Alan tells you how to fix fried hard-crabs in great detail. The Chesapeake region was important to the preparation for launching the successful offensives in both theatres of WWII and John Peterson explains that effort. Gail Whitney is a fervent chicken-necker and she shares her best tips with all for a basket full of crabs. Detailed follow-ups of the Pirate Poachers of the Bay are revealed by weak enforcement of Natural Resources laws. How these poachers get away with robbing the bounty of the Bay is disturbing and outrageous. Read what one prosecutor says should be done to get the outlaws behind jail bars and off of oyster bars in sanctuaries. Thanks for joining us on the Chesapeake. --- Ken Rossignol
