FORT PIERCE - Terry Howard and other local fishing men and women will be at the St. Lucie County Marine Center on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. to talk about and sign Howard's book, "Great Kingfish Captains of Fort Pierce, Florida, Tell Their Stories."

Additionally, author Lucille Rights will be available to sign her recently released books featuring local history and elaborate on her interviews with the fishing community.

Visitors will have an opportunity to learn about the gear used by kingfish captains and learn how to throw a cast-net.

Howard, both a public schoolteacher and a commercial hand-line King Mackerel fisherman for more than a quarter century, tells the stories of five of Florida's great senior commercial hand-line Kingfish captains through edited interviews. The book also describes commercial hand-line King Mackerel fishing in Fort Pierce waters and the adjacent fishing grounds and finally, some of Howard's experiences from nearly 30 years as a commercial Kingfish captain. The book also features a poem by Terry Lynn Breig, one of the region's only women that fished commercially.

"Great Kingfish Captains of Fort Pierce, Florida, Tell Their Stories" encompasses "oral history, biography, fishing tales, war stories, tragedy, adventure, and fun," as Howard states in his preface. "All the stories are captivating, compelling, and different."

Howard goes on to write that the five men interviewed for the book - Roger Farlow, Steve Lowe, Johnny Jones, Al Tyrrell and Tommy McHale (Farlow and McHale are since deceased) - are all "highly intelligent masters of their trade and classic commercial captains. They are all fishing legends."

This event is free and open to the public and will be held on the back patio of the Marine Center. The St. Lucie County Marine Center, featuring the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit is located at 420 Seaway Drive, Fort Pierce. The Marine Center features aquariums with more than 8,000-gallons of marine life that highlight the species found in the Indian River Lagoon and the surrounding waters. The center is open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday with a modest admission fee and a nautical gift shop. For more information call Jody Bonet at (772) 462-2548 or visit: www.sms.si.edu/smee.

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