Rhythms of 



GRIFFITH CHRONICLES COASTAL 



By Katie Mosher 



A 



JL Vs an anthropologist, David Qriffith documents change in North Carolina s 

 coastal communities as they meet this new century head on. As a poet, 

 Qriffith looks beyond the statistics to the rhythm and cadence of lives in the midst 

 of change. He sees patterns in the ecosystems and songs in the stories of days gone by. 



During the course of his studies and 

 fieldwork, Griffith has been mistaken for a 

 CIA agent in Latin America and a "rev- 

 enue man" on fishing boats in North 

 Carolina. Often his laid-back approach and 

 basic questions convince subjects that he 

 couldn't really be a college professor. 



"I am not a very threatening person — 

 and I am genuinely interested in their 

 stories," says Griffith, a North Carolina 

 Sea Grant researcher from East Carolina 

 University. "I love spending time with 

 people who are different than I am." 



Those differences are quickly set aside 

 when coastal residents realize he is there to 

 listen, not lecture, says Susan West of 

 Buxton. "David is very good at listening 

 — and hearing what people have to say," 

 says West, who has a family perspective 

 on commercial fishing. 



In his new book, The Estuary's Gift: 

 An Atlantic Coast Cultural Biography, 

 Griffith not only reports results of his 



formal studies, he also weaves the stories 

 of very different people who are linked by 

 their ties to the coastal waters. 



His essays tell of slaves who escaped 

 through hidden canals and whaling families 

 who lived in Diamond City. More modern 

 stories include those of Mexican women 

 picking blue crab, commercial fishers 

 frustrated by regulations, and recreational 

 anglers competing in high-dollar tourna- 

 ments. 



Griffith's study of changes in coastal 

 communities goes hand-in-hand with the 

 biological and chemical studies of coastal 

 ecosystems, says Ronald Hodson, North 

 Carolina Sea Grant director. 



"We need to understand not just the 

 biology, but also the human involvement," 

 Hodson says. "We can't do any manage- 

 ment scheme without knowing the human 

 relations and interactions." 



Bill Queen, director of ECU's Institute 

 for Coastal and Marine Resources, agrees. 



Continued 



10 EARLY SUMMER 2000 



