Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Lafayette, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I was referred to Ed and Mary Zamadics by Mary's brother, Tom May. Tom is the business manager of the Society for Applied Anthropology, and when he learned about the history study he recommended I set up a meeting with Ed. When I called and explained the project, Ed was happy to participate. I met him and Mary at their home in Lafayette.

Ed Zamadics became involved in the oil and gas industry in 1953 upon graduating from Penn State University. He began work with Atlanta Refining Company and onshore worked in South Texas, Mississippi, and, by 1957, Louisiana. He left the field crew to go to the Lafayette office and stayed with the company until the downturn of 1960 when he was laid off. He went to work for Sinclair in Houston from 1960-1965 as a senior geophysicist. In 1965 he began work as an independent consultant, primarily for Atlanta Refining. He then started working offshore for a consortium that included Atlanta Refining, City Service, Getty, and Continental. After two years, his friends talked him into going back to Atlanta Refining, and he stayed there until his retirement in 1985.