Interviewer: Victoria Phaneuf

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I had met Brett Dungan at a Working Waterfront Coalition meeting some months ago, and we finally were able to arrange a meeting. I met him at the Master Marine office on Shell Belt Road, it's a brick building, with the offices on the second floor. This is one of the few offices that has pictures on the walls and a normal amount of clutter for a 30-some year old business, unlike so many of those whose offices were taken out by Katrina and don't have many decorations or clutter. I introduced myself to the secretary/assistant in the front office, she called him and there was a few minute wait. She was probably in her early 20s, of Asian descent, and was wearing a Dartmouth T-shirt. I asked if she went there, she said no, but her brother [close friend?] did. BD: came out and asked me back, the office is divided into [at least] two sets of rooms by a long central hall. It's all wood paneled. We sit in a windowless conference room and he asks me a number of questions about the project, the difference between the two projects, and my own plans in life before we start the interview. He speaks quite fast, and I am having a hard time keeping up in my notes – trying to strike a balance between writing enough to get the gist, not leaving long pauses, and not skipping pauses and cutting him off. Somehow it's harder with him than it has been with others in the past.