Interviewer: Preetam Prakash

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I had stopped by Mr. Taylor’s marine supply business in Biloxi about a week ago to speak with him about how his business had fared since the Gulf oil spill. During this visit we had also discussed some of the history of Mr. Taylor’s business and the more general industrial history of the area. I had mentioned to Mr. Taylor that we were hoping to conduct some oral history interviews with people in various historically significant industries in the area. He had said that he would be fine with doing an interview and had told me to get in touch with him the following week. I called Mr. Taylor the next week and we agreed to meet at his business.

Mr. Taylor was born in Macon, MS in 1945 but he had moved down to the coast with his father soon afterwards, and had grown up in the area around Escatawpa. He remembered the significance that the local seafood and shipbuilding and fabrication industries had in the area historically, and his father had worked in a local processing plant. Mr. Taylor had worked in the plant himself while he was growing up in the area but had gone to work for a finance company after he had finished with school. He worked his way up in this company and had then gone to work for a marine equipment and supply company in the area in the late 1970s. He bought out the two company owners in the 1980s and has run the business ever since, dealing with the commercial and recreational shrimping and fishing industries as well as the offshore oil industry. He discussed how his business had changed over the years with concordant changes in these various industries, and also spoke about the impact that the oil spill had had on his business since the previous summer.