What I Found at BEA! Part IV
The Man Overboard: How a Merchant Marine Officer Survived the Raging Storm of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction by Darryl Hagar, $29.95, www.themanoverboard.com
What if Don’t Call Me a Crook!‘s Bob Moore found God and got his life together? It might be like The Man Overboard:
The Man Overboard is the dramatic story of Darryl Hagar, a twenty-five year veteran of the Merchant Marine. This “drunken sailor” was charged with the daunting responsibility of safely navigating 900-foot supertankers through the dangerous and unpredictable oceans of the world, including refueling the U.S. Navy during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and again during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91–all the while living a double life. Within a professional life of discipline and order, Darry led a clandestine, chaotic existence of alcoholism, drug abuse, and crime.
Hagar also has a The Man Overboard comic series. The drawings are very detailed and add to the sense of horror of Hagar’s once out-of-control life. As he says in the comic’s intro:
Some of the stories contained are funny, some are sad, and indeed some are very disturbing. . . much like life itself.
And much like Don’t Call Me a Crook! I’m looking forward to reading this. I expect it’ll give me some new insight into sailors’ lives, and why they’re so often drunken.
Tags: alcoholism, Book Expo America, Don't Call Me a Crook!, publishing