Dan Marks

Yes, I am a pirate. “We knew we were in Indian country.” Third Engineer John Cronyn, Maersk, Alabama, taken by Somali pirates in April 2009. Domestic piracy is a niche market. Really, who would expect a ship to get hijacked right off the South Jetty? This guy right here. That’s who. After receiving my first Merchant Mariner’s license, I hooked up with Tidewater. What’s a nice way to say this? It wasn’t my favorite job. It was August 24, 1992. I reported to my boat in Houma, Louisiana. The...

It is pretty well known, at least on our little island, that Galveston began celebrating Mardi Gras before New Orleans. Granted, we’ve had our fits and starts, such as the 1900 Storm and that little dust up with the Germans and Japanese in the 40s, but 1985 was the beginning of a new era. The opening of the Tremont, along with other properties, would up the ante on Galveston tourism and forever alter our ideas of municipal revenue. There was a lot of hype for Mardi Gras 1985. It wasn’t the...

It is a gamble for them. It’s a gamble for any new business probing our market.