Victoria (Tory) Phaneuf had been referred to Mr. Holland by local residents who were aware that he was one of the last remaining wooden boat builders in Biloxi. She contacted him and asked if he would be willing to do an interview. He agreed, so Tory and Diane Austin arranged to meet him at his boat yard in Biloxi, which is located next to his house. The interview took place in the enclosed construction area of his yard. Diane led the interview with Tory present taking notes.

M.r Holland was born in 1946 in Biloxi, Mississippi. He began his boat building career at the age of nine and spent time with many of the local boat builders, including the Kovacevichs who built oilfield boats. After high school in 1964, he went to work for Ingalls where he learned to weld and burn. His tenure lasted until 1970, but was interrupted by a stint in the Coast Guard during the Vietnam Crisis. He worked other construction and layout jobs, but always built boats outside his work hours. Both his daughters work in his small yard and he employs about two full time employees. They renovate and build all different types of wooden boats, though their specialty is carvel round bottom boats. He notes that after doing more repair jobs than usual the previous year, they had done few in 2007 and he attributes this mostly to the rising price of materials and people being unable to afford boat maintenance. Especially since the ‘90s and after Hurricane Katrina, wood for boat building has been increasingly difficult to procure. He also talks about the stress and expense in recovering from Katrina and his disappointment and shock in the lack of assistance he received from religious groups and companies. This was different than their experience after Hurricane Camille. He discusses what he sees as the end of the wooden boat building craft and describes his dedication to teaching people about it.