Books by Eric Douglas

Thriller fiction and Non-fiction

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Working With NBC

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A little more than a year ago, NationalGeographic.com profiled the problems with the lobster divers in Honduras; they used several of my photographs and quoted Dr. Matias Nochetto from DAN and I about the issue as we were both working on the Harvesting Diver Project.

In September of this year, I was contacted by a reporter from the New York Times who was headed to Honduras on a different story but remembered the NatGeo piece and wanted to do a follow up. That story ran in September (almost a year to the day to after NatGeo).

Just after the NYT story ran, a producer from NBC contacted me to get more background information. Over the next couple weeks I spent approximately 6 hours on the phone with them, talking about logistics and helping them understand the diving situation and terminology. They finally invited me to join their news crew for a few days when they went to Honduras.

And that is how I came to be standing at the airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on a Sunday afternoon surrounded by security, a dozen people and more than 35 cases and pieces of luggage. The camera guys had 23 cases of their own just for equipment. I knew this was going to be a completely different trip than any other trip I had made to Honduras…or anywhere for that matter.

Natalie Morales from the Today Show was the correspondent for the story. She is an extremely down-to-earth person and didn’t really want any special considerations. The network was nervous about her being there so they had hired security personnel for the crew and one man, Frank, was her personal security. 

After getting all the equipment and crew packed into five cars, which took a while, we headed out for the two-and-a-half hour drive from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba where Dr. Elmer Mejia operates a hyperbaric chamber. I’ve written about him several times in this blog previously.

During the drive Dr. Mejia was on the phone with a boat owner. We learned that injured divers were on the way to the chamber. First it was 3, then 4 and finally 5 divers were going to arrive at the clinic. Since the story was developing so quickly, the crew decided to go straight to the dock to pick them up. By the time we got there it was pouring the rain and dark, but the camera guys went down to the docks with Dr. Mejia and got them. The rest of stayed outside as the port security was edgy about too many of us going inside.

With so many injured divers at one time, Dr. Mejia had to put two divers in the outer lock and compress the entire chamber at one time. This is not safe, as there is no way to lock someone in or out of the chamber if there was a problem, but Dr. Mejia felt he didn’t have a choice. After examining each of the divers, four had relatively minor problems, but one had more severe injuries. He began a US Navy Treatment Table 6 at 7 pm. The treatment would not end until nearly midnight.

Day 1 has a happy ending, though, as after a shorter treatment on Monday morning each of the divers was released to go back home. Whether it was the quick treatment or luck, we will never know. Unfortunately, many of the divers don’t have that sort of luck when it comes to dealing with paralysis caused by decompression sickness.

Before the group of five divers left the clinic, Dr. Mejia fed them lunch and got them cleaned up. And then Thelma Sakeyama came to the clinic. She is a special evangelical pastor to the people of La Moskitia. She sang and preached for them and they seemed to appreciate it. Before they left, she took down all of their names.

The next couple posts will detail my experiences with NBC in Honduras to help them tell this story. They asked me at the time not to publish these stories until their story was ready to air. The trip began on a Sunday and I flew home on Thursday afternoon.

For anyone who watched the story last night on NBC’s Rock Center and are interested in contributing to help Dr. Mejia, you can do so here.

Tomorrow, I will post about our first full day on the ground in San Pedro Sula. Stay tuned..

The issue with Miskito divers

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In October, I traveled to Honduras with a news crew from NBC to help them understand the diving issues revolving around Miskito Indians diving for lobster. They often end up paralyzed or dead. The story also profiles an amazing human being, Dr. Elmer Mejia, who has dedicated his professional life to helping these men.  

Much of the background the crew used for the story came from the documentary work I did while working at DAN. They were carrying around copies of articles I wrote for Alert Diver Magazine and had all seen the 10 minute documentary I created while working on my final certificate in the Documentary Arts from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.

Below are links to some of my blog posts from Honduras and my thoughts and observations on the problems. Tomorrow, after the story airs tonight on NBC’s Rock Center, I’ll begin posting behind-the-scene blogs and photos from the trip. It was fun and interesting to travel with the large news crew. And it was also rewarding to see them begin to appreciate the scale of the problem as we traveled around.

Hyperbaric Clinic in La Ceiba

Purpose

Lobster Symposium.

Cayman Revisited

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In 2003 and 2004 I spent several weeks on Grand Cayman. Those trips planted the seed for my first novel, Cayman Cowboys.
I still remember the germ that began to grow with that first book. Steve Barnett was showing me the blowholes on the east end of the island. As we walked across the iron shore–craggy coral exposed to the air and rain–I first imagined what would happen if I fell. Bleeding was sure to commence. Second, my imagination ran to “how scared would someone have to be to run across this stuff”. And from that, a novel was born.
Much of that first book revolves around Sunset House and My Bar. Mainly because that was where I stayed on those first two trips and because it’s a cool, laid-back place with lots of character. This morning, for the first time since Cayman Cowboys was released, I’m back on Grand Cayman. It’s sunny and gorgeous, warm with only the slightest of breezes. I’m staring at the 82-degree flat-calm water in front of me and am about to go make a dive. Just the way I remember it.
I’m working on my next novel and it’s coming along nicely. A lot of the action takes place on an island not far from here, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. After some major changes in my life, I lost the motivation to write fiction for a while. Major case of writer’s block. But I’ve crossed that hurdle and the words are flowing again.
With each story, I think I get better at writing and creating characters and scenes. But I owe a lot to this place for getting me started writing about diving. That first book wasn’t a work of  high literature, but it’s a fun story. A friend who lived and still works around the island, visiting regularly, told me “it is so Cayman”. I’ll take that.
Will there be a Cayman sequel? Never say never I guess. Who knows what will happen next? I sure don’t.

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Real Spirit of Christmas

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I have to admit I’ve been frustrated the last few weeks as people have used Christmas to grind axes against political parties, politicians and each other. All in the name of what is supposed to be a holiday about peace and love.

But then again, there are conversations that make me proud of my fellow man again.

·         I’ve had this conversation twice in the last two days with totally separate families. That tells me the feeling is more common than I realized. People are talking about cutting back or skipping the exchanging of gifts because there is “nothing we need” or “we have so much already.” Then they talk about finding ways to help other people out with the money knowing that there are people who need the help. And I’m not talking about rich people. Face it, most of us go buy things when we want them. We aren’t waiting on Christmas for someone else to buy it for us.

·         A good friend of mine went to Goodwill yesterday and cleaned out nearly every coat in the place. Today she is giving them away to anyone who needs them at a party for people who are struggling. She isn’t asking for any recognition and would kill me if I said who it was. That isn’t why she’s doing it. She is doing it because it is the right thing to do and she wants to do it. Simple as that.

·         I was blown away when I read the story about people paying off the Kmart layaway accounts for other people. That’s pure genius. Most people are doing it anonymously or are walking up to strangers in the store and doing it on the spot. Not for any personal gain, but because it can help out someone who might be having a tough time this year. If you didn’t read this story, here is thelink.

For years people have gone together and sponsored families or donated toys to toy drives and I think that stuff is great. I just see people really getting involved on a personal level and that sort of thing makes me really proud. They aren’t waiting for an organization or the government to do something. They are doing it themselves.

That is really what Christmas and this season is about for me. Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. I can’t think of a better way to do it than to put aside our own “wants” and do something for someone else. You never know, you might just get a bigger gift in return.

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Pearl Harbor Day

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Today is Pearl Harbor Day. December 7. Seventy years following the actual events in Hawaii.

 

Tony Sereno, part of the WWII exhibit at the WV Culture Center.

About five years ago, I wrote and published a story called Pearl Harbor Christmas. It’s a story of one family’s experiences over the 18 days from that infamous day in 1941 until Christmas day. It’s based on the real-life experiences of Anthony Sereno and his family in West Virginia. I am proud to say I knew Tony, even if it was in his later years. He was a wonderful, funny, genuine man. No pretensions in him at all. He wouldn’t have known how to have them.

Unfortunately, we lost Tony earlier this year. He was 94 when he died on July 19. He could have died that morning in 1941 as he worked on the model he was building of the very ship he served on…the USS West Virginia. I don’t know how often it happened that a sailor served on a ship named for his home state, but it did this time. Tony didn’t talk much about his experiences in the war. He simply served his country, came home and raised a family.

 

I guess those of us living today are fortunate. We think the most important things we have to complain about are changes to Facebook or whatever the latest reality TV fool is up to. I would bet that someone like Tony would say that’s ok. I’m sure he would prefer that none of his family would have to go through the things he went through ever again.
As we prepare for the Christmas holiday, I would simply ask that we all take a moment to reflect on a day like today about the things that are really important. Do something nice for someone else. Remember the Christmas season is about love and giving and sacrifice. Not just the best deal at the department store.
My daughters are proud of their great grandfather.

If you are fortunate enough to know a veteran of World War II, tell them “Thank You.” And take another moment to say thank you to the other veterans and the people who have sacrificed for you. An old friend of mine that I am very happy to have reconnected with recently, Scott White, often talks about what a privilege and honor it is to talk to the “old” veterans when he visits the VA hospital.

 

I didn’t serve in the military. I didn’t have to and it wasn’t my calling. But I am glad others made that choice. But I am working on a new project that will allow me to use my skills to recognize those who did. More on that later.

 

If you’re interested in reading Tony’s story, go to the Short Stories section of my website and download the story Pearl Harbor Christmas. It’s a pretty good read, if I do say so myself.

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Thankfulness

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Things I am thankful for:

  • Being surrounded by friends and family
  • Being in a loving relationship
  • Knowing that God has a purpose for my life and knowing that purpose is falling into place
  • Seeing friends I haven’t seen in years
  • Making new friends
  • Being excited about new opportunities
  • Having time to write
  • Getting my internet connected…finally
  • Being able to spend more time with my children…and not having to use Skype to do it.
  • Friends who are still willing to help me move (although probably never again ;-), thanks JD)
  • One of the kindest landlords I have ever heard of
  • People who believe in me
  • The ability to use my skills to touch lives
  • People that disagree with me (it makes me think)
  • Blessings and mercy I don’t deserve (but have received anyway)
Change is necessary. It can be painful and it can be exciting. Over the last few months, I’ve gone through some pretty major changes. There are times when nothing seems to work and everything seems to fall apart when you touch it. And then there are times when everything seems to fall into place. Those are the days when you know you’re on the right track. I am thankful for those days.

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