Troubled waters

Over a 30-year period, from the 1950s to the 80s, a large segment of the Mississippi River barge transportation industry boomed and then collapsed. Many barge lines and half a dozen inland shipyards suffered financial failures. The primary causes were government intervention in environmental and transportation policy; government tax-shelter policy; and the influence of half a dozen multinational grain companies on the barge freight marketplace. As CEO of a St. Paul-based barge line, Jack Lambert lived through that business cycle, making and losing a fortune. His recollections of that period and the events that shaped it are tempered by the perspective that another three decades have provided. The eventful journey includes floods, fires, sinkings, union strife, and the legion of unforgettable characters and situations that he encountered along the way.