The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous: Fighting to Save a Way of Life in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

by Ken Wells

With a long and colorful family history of defying storms, the seafaring Robin cousins of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, make a fateful decision to ride out Hurricane Katrina on their hand-built fishing boats in a sheltered Civil War–era harbor called Violet Canal.  But when Violet is overrun by killer surges, the Robins must summon all their courage, seamanship, and cunning to save themselves and the scores of others suddenly cast into their care.

 

In this gripping saga, Louisiana native Ken Wells provides a close-up look at the harrowing experiences in the backwaters of New Orleans during and after Katrina. Focusing on the plight of the intrepid Robin family, whose members trace their local roots to before the American Revolution, Wells recounts the landfall of the storm and the tumultuous seventy-two hours afterward, when the Robins’ beloved bayou country lay catastrophically flooded and all but forgotten by outside authorities as the world focused its attention on New Orleans. Wells follows his characters for more than two years as they strive, amid mind-boggling wreckage and governmental fecklessness, to rebuild their shattered lives. This is a story about the deep longing for home and a proud bayou people’s love of the fertile but imperiled low country that has nourished them.

 

Genres: History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published July 21, 2008

Reviews

[Suzon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blew me away--'though not literally, as happened to some of the people interviewed for this true account of hurricane Katrina in the parishes east of New Orleans. The story was gripping, moving, and informative.

[Mandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t even know where to begin with how much this book absolutely enveloped me. I couldn’t put it down. It is quite a bit outdated now, as of my reading in 2020, so I’m curious to do a little online research to see how St. Bernard Parish has recovered. When it came time for my book challenges this year, one of the prompts was to read a book about a natural disaster and educating myself more on the effects of Hurricane Katrina, especially on the bayou country, became apparent. Ken Wells, being a native of Louisiana and the bayou country himself, told the stories of the residents of St. Bernard Parish beautifully.

I owe my interest in reading it to a dear and surviving person in my life who evacuated his hometown in Mississippi and came back to it utterly devastated by Hurricane Katrina. We’ve had many conversations surrounding what he saw, what the coastal communities in Mississippi and Louisiana endured, why and how some people wouldn’t or couldn’t leave, and of the outside/federal influences which made things invariably worse. On top of those conversations, he has always talked, with a sparkle in his eye, about the bayou country and the way of life along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana. Between that and Ken's enigmatic writing about the communities in St. Bernard, it gives me, someone who hasn’t even visited, quite the expectations when I finally do.

[Doctor Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katrina coverage focused on New Orleans, but the bayous south of the city may have been hit even harder, and the ways of life of the bayous even more affected. This is an account based on first-hand stories of the storm and its aftermath. The bayous are not only devastated by the storms, but their devastation makes New Orleans even more vulnerable. The combination of commercial channels and the levees, and other controls over the Mississippi River's flow and flooding, inexorably reduces the barrier that the bayous provide against hurricanes headed toward New Orleans. They knew it was coming, but decades of man-made bayou erosion have created a vulnerability that threatens both New Orleans and the bayou way of life to its south.

[jude lirette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable

If reading about such a tragedy can be described as enjoyable. I wasn't half way through before I was recommending this book to my family and friends. Thanks to Ken Wells for recording this historical event.

[Audiobook Accomplice (Gillian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite what I thought it was gonna be…
My Full Review

[Jack Merlo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s nice to get a perspective of what Katrina was like for the people that stayed behind! There was one chapter that I found to be a little tedious but overall good book!

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing account of the destruction Katrina wrought on St. Bernard Parish. While everyone focused their attention and cameras on New Orleans, St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes took the brunt of the storm and the flooding but did not see a single rescue worker until the fourth day after the storm, long after people were being plucked off their roof tops in N.O.

Ken Wells weaves the stories of several shrimpers who rode out the storm on their boats (a very typical practice in this part of the country) along with the stories of other residents who were not able to evacuate for various reasons, and ties them all together with history lessons on the Cajun and Isleno heritage of the area. These people's perseverance, resourcefulness, and generosity are endless.

Wells did excellent research on both the history of the area and the storm itself. Many people outside of the Gulf Coast have a hard time comprehending the magnitude of this storm and why people chose to stay behind. This book helps put both of these issues into perspective.

I was most interested in reading this book because my dad is from Chalmette, and my uncle and his family evacuated from Chalmette at the last minute. I cried while reading about what they would have had to face had they not gotten out. I have been back to Chalmette since Katrina to see my uncle's house under renovation, and it is a slow recovery.

Thank you, Mr. Wells, for going down there, doing the research, and writing this book.

[Nettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dacey suggested this book after I signed up to volunteer in St. Bernard's Parish to build houses for a week. With some embarrassment, I admit that in the midst of Katrina, I often turned the news off, feeling that there was nothing I could do but feel horrible about the terrible plight of those suffering at the hands of Katrina. Ken Wells, a native of the area and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, did the opposite. He went to New Orleans and collected the stories of the hardy people who survived this storm in unbelievable ways, and are still slowly rebuilding their lives.
As he points out toward the end, there is no happy ending to this story; the fight still goes on for those who remained, and those who fled and are starting somewhere new. For me, this book gave a very human understanding to the victims of Katrina and in a size that was reasonable to get my head around. I look forward to getting down there and giving a hand.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really engrossing and affecting account of the Katrina event and post-Katrina recovery. Unlike much of what I have read, the focus here is not on the city of New Orleans, or the immediate environs like the Ninth Ward. The focus here is on the remote St. Bernard's Parish where the eye passed over. The author got to know people and their roles and lives, which accs the affecting death to the account.

I think the people and their stories are so good that if anything, the author could get out of the way a bit more. He seems to want to be a tad heavy handed in his descriptions, such as a setting sun has to be "light from a dying sun", etc.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written account of several people from St. Bernard Parish who rode out Hurricane Katrina and lived to tell their treacherous experiences. With so much media coverage focusing on the looting, the violence, etc. in New Orleans after Katrina, I feel grateful that Ken Wells has been able to tell the story of the hard working people who have been laboring tirelessly to rebuild their lives, their homes, and their livelihoods without misusing government programs and relying on handouts. They are to be greatly admired and their stories will stay with me for a long time.

[Ellon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to admit that I am a little biased because I don't normally enjoy reading nonfiction books as much as fiction books. That being said, I have read much better nonfiction books. Wells gave too much unnecessary background about the shrimping business. I think less of this background would have still allowed the reader to understand the people's life without being so boring. I did get into the parts that described the actual storm but many chapters were so hard to get through. If I wasn't reading this for a book club, I probably would have given up.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's about the victims of Hurricane Katrina, south of New Orleans.
It's a non-fiction account of their intertwined lives in a tightly knit community. My biggest complaint is that it had no dynamic ebb and flow. It told the story well, just in a bit of a monotone.
However, it is a part of the Katrina story that one doesn't generally think about, and it needs to be told.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ken Wells may have grown up in the bayou, but he lives in Ridgewood. He reports briefly of Katrina in New Orleans and then moves to the more devastated St. Bernard's Parish, the bayou country which was his home. Horrific stories. His Louisiana voice is less strong than in his excellent fiction, Mealie LeBAuve.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that some people will love and others will strongly dislike. For me personally, there was a bit too much focus on setting and not enough on character. There were too many characters and not enough focus on any particular one. If you are looking for one good Katrina book, I'd go with The Hurricanes over this one. However, it is an easy read, so its not NOT worth it.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was interesting and very informative. I am glad this reporter managed to get to the St. Bernard parish and tell the story of what happened during and after Katrina, or I guess we would never know.

[Myrn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ken Wells' book about what happened to people in St Bernard during Hurricanne Katrina is amazing. The book tells the first hand account of several people who stayed in St. Bernard during the storm and lived to tell their stories. I will read this book again.

[Jimmie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding research and writing about Hurricane Kristina and its impact on residents of St. Bernard Parish. A very personal look at some folks who lived and fished and cared for that part of South Louisiana.

[Jennifer Tompkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a little outdated already, but that's a good thing because it means recovery from Katrina has progressed since the date of publication. The things I enjoyed most about this book were the stories told by the St. Bernard residents of living thru the storm and its immediate aftermath.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was mesmerizing and heartbreaking. It shines a light on a Katrina story that was not focused on very much in the mainstream media. Anyone who is interested in the topic at all should read this book.

[Diane]

Recommended in Southern Living - Jan. 2009

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, this book really gives you a sense of what it must have been like to survive hurrican katrina.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting insight into a culture few understand and even fewer are aware of. A vanishing part of the american fabric

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have loved to read this book about the history of St. Bernard Parrish even before Katrina. Within the context of the storm, its heartbreaking.

[Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true life account of Katrina and it's aftermath in St. Bernard Parish. Shocking tales told by a truly great writer. If you haven't read his fiction, you should.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revealing account of what went wrong before and after Katrina.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book about the unique culture in South Louisiana and its fight to stay alive.

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice recap of personal stories of Katrina's human destruction in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes.

[Leslie]

From Mom