Ben McC. Moïse
Foreword by Lloyd Newberry

Career-spanning tales of a coastal crimefighter, ranging from the treacherous to the hilarious

6 x 9, 256 pages, 43 illus., 2 maps
cloth, $29.95t
ISBN 978-1-57003-728-3

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ben McC. Moïse served with distinction as a South Carolina game warden for nearly a quarter century, patrolling the coastal woods and waters of the Palmetto State. In this colorful career-spanning memoir, the cigar-chomping, ticket-writing scourge of lowcountry fish-and-game-law violators chronicles grueling stakeouts, complex trials, hair-raising adventures, and daily interactions with a host of outrageous personalities. Along the way he paints a vivid portrait of evolving attitudes and changing regulations governing coastal conservation.

Moïse guides readers through his remarkable career in wildlife law enforcement along the South Carolina coast during all seasons, all hours, and all weather conditions. In briskly paced accounts of episodes—sometimes dangerous, sometimes humorous—he introduces a lively cast of watermen, lawyers, country judges, hunters, and poachers who animate the coast and whose quirky personalities and foibles are the game warden's daily stock in trade. Moïse's narrative highlights the working lives of commercial crabbers and shrimpers, the antics of overly enthusiastic fishermen, and the great lengths to which hunters will go in their quests for doves, ducks, and marsh hens. Moïse also describes encounters with displaced 'urban wildlife,' the coastal marijuana smuggling business, and his fellow game wardens.

With a lawman's eye for fine details, a conservationist's nose for the aroma of pluff mud, and a seasoned storyteller's ear for the rhythms of a good Southern yarn, Moïse recounts his stout-hearted and steadfast efforts to protect the lowcountry landscape and bring to justice those who would run roughshod over fish and game laws on the Carolina coast.

The memoir also features a foreword by Lloyd Newberry, celebrated hunter and senior editor of Sporting Classics Magazine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ben McC. Moïse was a conservation officer with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources from 1978 to 2002. In recognition of his achievements in law enforcement, he was presented the Guy Bradley Award by the North American Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 1990 and the Order of the Palmetto by South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell in 1994. A contributor to the Charleston Post and Courier, Charleston Mercury, and other regional publications, Moïse lives in Charleston.

REVIEWS

"Ramblings gives us a smile on every page, a chuckle on every other, and belly laughs at unexpected intervals. Slipped beneath, beside, and between the humor are important things about our state's shared by all natural resources. This memoir should be required reading for every hunter, fisherman, game warden, and storytelling fan in South Carolina."—William P. Baldwin, author of The Hard to Catch Mercy and Lowcountry Plantations Today

BOOK FLYER

Download the flyer/order form here. You will need Adobe Reader which is free from Adobe.