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My Years in the Louisiana Swamp
Louisiana State University Press
April 2006
161 pages
ISBN: 0807130893
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
In the early 1970s, two idealistic young people—Gwen
Carpenter Roland and Calvin Voisin—decided to leave
civilization and re-create the vanished simple life of their
great-grandparents in the heart of Louisiana’s million-acre
Atchafalaya River Basin Swamp. Armed with a box of crayons
and a book called How to Build Your Home in the Woods, they
drew up plans to recycle a slave-built structure into a
houseboat. Without power tools or building experience they
constructed a floating dwelling complete with a brick
fireplace. Towed deep into the sleepy waters of Bloody
Bayou, it was their home for eight years. This is the tale
of the not-so-simple life they made together—days spent
fishing, trading, making wine, growing food, and growing
up—told by Gwen with grace, economy, and eloquence. Not long after they took up swamp living, Gwen and Calvin
met a young photographer named C. C. Lockwood, who shared
their "back to the earth" values. His photographs of the
couple going about their daily routine were published in
National Geographic magazine, bringing them unexpected fame.
More than a quarter of a century later, after Gwen and
Calvin had long since parted, one of Lockwood’s photos of
them appeared in a National Geographic collector’s edition
entitled 100 Best Pictures Unpublished—and kindled the
interest of a new generation. That photo and many others by
Lockwood are included here. With quiet wisdom, Gwen recounts her eight-year voyage of
discovery—about swamp life, wildlife, and herself. A keen
observer of both the natural world and the ways of human
beings, she transports readers to an unfamiliar and exotic
place, preserving her great adventure for those who did not
make the trip in person.
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