Interviewer(s): Tom McGuire; Christina Leza; Colleen O'Donnell. Grand Isle, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Harris Cheramie at the Port Fourchon Marina recommended Aubin Rigaud who was listed, erroneously, as Clovis Austin Rigaud in the phonebook. While interviewing Arthur Bellanger, the error was detected and I was put on the right trail. Since Harris' referrals have been extremely productive in the past, I was eager to meet Mr. Rigaud. I interviewed him at his home along Coulon Rigaud Lane, where his family has lived for many generations. The interview ranged widely over the Grand Isle economy of farming, shrimping, and fishing, marketing cucumbers in Chicago, some observations on the erosion of the beaches. He also recalled the punishment for speaking French in school: if he had kept all the yellow sheets of paper where he had to write down phrases, you could lay them down and walk from Grand Isle to Golden Meadow on them. The second interview was conducted as part of the study of the links between WWII and the offshore industry.

Aubin was 70 years old at the time of the 2003 interview, having recently stopped shrimping due to health problems. His father was also a shrimper, on seine boats. His grandmother was a midwife, long before Grand Isle had any doctors. Rigaud remembers a hard childhood of constant chores, a rather autocratic family structure, and a childhood nickname of "Patch," for the shape of the clothes he wore. When his father got arthritis, Aubin quit school and took over the family shrimp boat - a captain at age 13. After the Korean War, he went to work offshore, then learned welding and spent 18 years on the rigs, working for a welding company contracted out to Humble/Exxon.