 | Gone to the Swamp Normal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4Normal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4 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. Robert Leslie Smith is descended from loggers, hunters, fishermen, and entrepreneurs. Now retired, he still lives near the swamp at the head of MobileBay, where the Mobile and TensawRivers 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. |
