Interviewer: Preetam Prakash

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Charles Dorman was another local man who had contacted Preetam after reading the article in the Meridian Star concerning the project. It took a few days to find a time that would work for the interview but Preetam finally ended up meeting with Charles at his home in Enterprise, MS. Charles came from a family of electricians but had chosen to go offshore shortly after he graduated from high school in the area. He was somewhat unique in having decided to actually move down to Louisiana when he began working offshore. He had spent a number of years in southern LA and professed a love for Cajun culture and food and fondly remembered his time down there. He had moved back to Louisiana in the 1990s and had lived in Union ever since. Charles had begun working offshore in the late 1970s, following his brother into the industry. Charles eventually left offshore work in the late 1980s because of wanting to focus more on his work as an electrician. He had operated his own electrical business and had also worked for a number of large electric companies. He had moved back to the Union area in 1997, and had eventually gone back to work offshore in 2005. Having spent a considerable amount of time away from the industry, he was able to speak in some detail about the substantial changes in safety and overall work conditions between the industry of the 1970s and the current day.