Interviewer: Laura Ek

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I met Dennis Sullivan at a radio station fundraiser event in the fall of 2010. He put me in touch with several other contacts. At one point we were able to sit down for an interview together at his house in Lafayette.

Dennis Sullivan describes himself as an army brat that moved around all the time growing up. Born in 1951 in Germany, he is originally from Miami, Florida (this is, because, he says he lived there the longest) though he says Lafayette is truly his home. He graduated from high school in 1969. He then went on the University of Florida, obtaining his degree in English in 1973. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next and took some time to travel around the U.S. He lived in Denver for about a year working for a newspaper. He then moved back to Florida to do research in microscopic soil born worms and their affect on crops. He worked there as a lab tech for two years. A friend in Lafayette told him how great it was, and he decided to move to Lafayette to give it a try. He read a TIME magazine article on offshore work and the benefits of the 7/7 schedule and decided to look for employment in the industry. He became interested in mud logging, and was hired by Baroid mud logging company in 1977. At one point, his wife requested that he come back onshore after their three children were born. He got an office job in 1990 or 1991, and still works for Sperry Son (now a part of Halliburton) to this day.

He describes his first day offshore and process of training and getting into the job offshore. He discusses the impacts on his family and his lifestyle from working offshore. He talks about the social and economic impacts from the 1970s and 1980s in Lafayette as a community and how things look today.