Interviewer: Preetam Prakash

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Johnny McKinsey, who lived in the far southwestern corner of MS, had originally been referred to Preetam by Walter Heathcock who had been previously interviewed for the study. Mr. McKinsey had acted as a mentor of sorts for Walter when the latter first entered the offshore oil industry in the 1970s, and Walter credited Mr. McKinsey with imparting to him much of the basic knowledge which enabled him to stay safe and to succeed in his work in the oil field. Johnny’s wife was present for much of the interview, which took place in the sunroom of their home. Johnny had initially begun working for a local contractor in the industry in the 1950s after graduating high school. He and his wife had lived in Chalmette, LA for several years while Johnny worked onshore for a contractor. During a temporary lull in the onshore oil industry, Johnny took advantage of the availability of an offshore job with Chevron to move back to Marion County, MS in the late 1950s where he and his wife were originally from and where they had always intended to return. He had worked his way up from a roustabout to drilling supervisor during his time with Chevron. He remembered the late 1960s-1970s as the time when many people from MS had initially gone to work offshore. Johnny was generally positive about the changes that he had witnessed during his time in the industry, saying that the oil field had become “much more educated” over the course of time. He had retired from working offshore in the early 1990s, during a time when Chevron and other major oil companies were offering many of their longstanding workers retirement packages. Since then, he had worked at a variety of different jobs, including driving trucks for a friend’s construction company, as well as raising horses on his own property.