Child-Life on the Tidewater

This is a book about growing up in a small low country fishing community, McIntosh County, Georgia, in the 1950s and 1960s, when the pace of life was far slower and less eventful than it would become in later times. The memories associated with shrimp boats, crabbing in the tidal waters, and "messing about" in small boats on the waterways as an adolescent are the central theme of this book. Blended with these experiences is the author's strong sense of "place," thus an accompanying theme of the book is that of the memoirist's lifelong appreciation and understanding of his coastal ecosystem- salt marshes, maritime forests, barrier islands and the myriad tidal rivers and creeks that are home to an abundance of wildlife and water life. These sentiments are akin to those of the author's contemporary, the late novelist Pat Conroy, whom he greatly admires and who also grew up and matured in the low country. Buddy Sullivan includes in his narrative an account of the several generations of his family that have had a connection to this unique locale, as well as his path from childhood to a professional career as a sports writer, historian, and author of books about the culture, ecology and history of McIntosh County and the Georgia coast.