Click here for a  photo of Tom Carlson.

Tom Carlson Presents the his Coastal Tribute, Hatteras Blues
On UNC-TV's North Carolina Bookwatch,
Friday, September 8, at 9:30 PM, Encore September 10, at 5 PM

When young Ernal Foster spent his life savings to build a juniper-hulled sportfishing boat in 1937, he gave birth to what would become the multimillion-dollar charter fishing industry on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Today, Ernal's son, Captain Ernie Foster, struggles to keep the family business alive in a time of great change on the Outer Banks. Hatteras Blues is their story-a story of triumph and loss, of sturdy Calvinist values and pell-mell American progress, and of fate and luck as capricious as the weather.

Within the engaging saga of the rise and decline of one family's livelihood, author Tom Carlson relates the high-adrenaline experience of blue-water sportfishing and the precarious early development of Hatteras Village in the heart of "Hurricane Alley."

In this episode of UNC-TV's local literary series North Carolina Bookwatch, premiering Friday, September 8, at 9:30 PM, author Tom Carlson shares how, in recording this truly North Carolina story, the author unexpectedly found himself becoming part of it.

"In 1984, I stopped in Hatteras Village and I saw those three old albatross boats-wood-hulled fishing boats that were built in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s-sitting amongst these fiberglass, 'go-fast' boats. They were beautiful, old relics," says Carlson. "As a writer, you learn to trust your instincts and that picture stayed with me, in my mind, for 15 years. I knew there was something to those old boats.I knew there was a story there."

Struggling to come to terms with the illness and death of his wife to a degenerative disease, Carlson learns a lesson from the Foster family-and the other townspeople discovered upon his return to Hatteras-in how to prepare for absence and loss, and how to grieve with some measure of grace and dignity.

"This is a book for people who like fishing, but it is something more than that.a story of a small town and a family that achieved the American dream; they had an idea, they carried through with it, and they made a living at it for three generations during which the town prospered," says Carlson. "But, progress is impersonal. The very progress that allowed the Foster family and Hatteras to succeed has kept going and is now putting them out of business. The old fishing village is turning into pastel condos and big houses on the beach. And so, the whole society, spurred by commercial and sport fishing, is now disappearing, as many North Carolinians know. And that is chronicled in this book."

Tom Carlson taught creative nonfiction and American literature for 32 years at the University of Memphis. He has published academic and freelance writing in the United States, Canada, and Europe. His book on Romanian poet laureate Nichita Stanescu won the Walter R. Smith Award, and his articles on the Elvis phenomenon received the George Whatley Award for best popular culture commentary.

Don't miss D.G. Martin's all-new interview with Tom Carlson on North Carolina Bookwatch, Friday, September 8, at 9:30 PM, with an encore episode airingSunday, September 10, at 5 PM,only on UNC-TV!

During this season of North Carolina Bookwatch, guests also include: Will Blythe (To Hate Like This is to be Happy Forever), John Hart (TheKing of Lies), Sarah Dessen (Just Listen), Kristin Henderson (While They're at War), David Payne (Back to Wando Passo), John Hope Franklin (Mirror to America), Leah Stewart (The Myth of You and Me), Andrew Britton (The American), Allan Gurganus (New Stories of the South), Bill Smith (Seasoned in the South), William Leuchtenburg (The White House Looks South), Dot Jackson (Refuge), Art Chansky (Blue Blood), Mark Ethridge (Grievances),  Paul Leonard (Music of a Thousand Hammers), and Angela Davis-Gardner (Plum Wine).

For more information about additional series guests and airdates, plus, the all-new Bookwatch blog and online book club, please visit: www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch.

Funding for North Carolina Bookwatch is provided by UNC-TV members and by Quail Ridge Books and Music, Raleigh's independent, full service bookstore, bringing readers and writers together since 1984.

North Carolina Bookwatch is part of UNC-TV's ongoing commitment to produce programs for and about North Carolina. UNC-TV is the statewide 11-station broadcast network of the University of North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch.

For more information about North Carolina Bookwatch and UNC-TV's other local productions, please visit our website at www.unctv.org.

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