Full interview

Full interview - MP3 (84 MB)

Topics (in order):

Grandfather taught him a lot about the outdoors

Grew up hunting and fishing with his grandfather

Well-adjusted to the the water by age 5

Driving boats since he was 7-8 years old

Going out to Bethel Island and Clear Lake

When the Coast Guard and harbor master started fining his grandfather for letting him drive his fishing boat alone around marina waters, he started fishing the pier 

Lived on Dwight Way between Sacramento and San Pablo Avenues in Berkeley

Ride bikes to get there

Older folks on pier taught them how  to fish the pier: it's not catfishing!

Way to learn about tides and meteorology

Treetop

CJ's bait shop on San Pablo before the old Taco Bell

Being the "specimen" to earn your way on the pier

Earning the trust and respect of other fishers and a lesson in hustling

His godfather Willy Williams and his gas station on Blake and San Pablo  Avenue

Being able to put together a whole fishing kit for free using spark plugs for sinkers and catching your own bait

Rick Powers hiring him to be first Black deckhand in Berkeley

Jump starting a career in maritime

Side hustle of selling his share on fish at the pier to family, church members and then whole neighborhood from Dwight Way to San Pablo Park just by word of mouth

Earning so much as a kid that he could pay family bills

Kids not having same opportunities today as they did

Pier today is going to waste

New ferry could bring jobs

Career exploration program (CETA) for kids

Pier: it starts here!

The A's Billy Martin and his mom lived in Berkeley and would recruit in Berkeley

All people who run charter boats here started with fishing on the pier 

Worked at the old Co-op grocery store on Shattuck

Sheet Metal Workers Local 104 

Learning knots from working on a tugboat

When don't have male structure growing up in family, it was important to have these outlets

Married to his childhood sweetheart

Fishing with kids and eight grandkids on the piers and boats

Major sports figures in his family

Crab, Comedy and Champagne stand-up comedy shows

Building a home in Bethel Island

Still comes to shoreline to look around

Not revealing his secret fishing spots in Berkeley

CJ's Bait Shop and getting credit 

The Hot Dog Man and sharing space at the pier

Revealing his fishing spots and wharf rats 

Bay environment now versus the 60's 

Proudest catch 

The multitudes who would fish along shore from Oakland airport north - locked in!

Visions for future of the area