In the 1970s, the summer after Gwen Carpenter Roland graduated with her master's degree, she met Calvin Voisin converted a former slave structure into a 26-by-103-foot steel barge houseboat. Together they spent nearly a decade living deep in the swamp wilderness, practicing the same self-sustaining customs as their earlier Cajun ancestors. Through their friendship with a young photographer, C.C. Lockwood, a collection of film photos capturing both the intimacy and allure of their alternative lifestyle were published in the September, 1979 issue of National Geographic, introducing the rest of the world to their special, secluded swamp haven.
She and Voisin fished, hunted, farmed land, raised livestock, and made their own butter, wine, and preserves. Subsequently, Roland began writing stories for newspapers and magazines about their trial-and-error experience living off the land. Roland conveys the inherent beauty, grueling labor, and rewarding grit of daily life in the swamp, giving the rest of us a glimpse behind the curtain of her life-altering adventure. Eventually, LSU Press reached out to Roland about writing a book; after some lengthy convincing, she agreed, and Atchafalaya Houseboat was published in 2006. Roland continues to write about agriculture and self-sufficient lifestyles from her homestead in Georgia.
Beyond the Basin
The Basin was the turning point for the would-be academic, diverting her from her PhD-appointed path toward a new trajectory, post-Basin. Roland's life, looking back, is filled with chapter after chapter of rich stories and new experiences; in short, anything but static. After leaving the swamp compound, Roland covered shark-diving stories for a scuba magazine; fell in love with her now-husband, Preston, and lived together on an abandoned hog farm in Breaux Bridge while welding; for a time, Roland was the editor of a lifestyle publication in Naples, Florida, before feeling the pull of the Everglades, where they worked as park rangers sizing wild game and collecting deer jawbones for wildlife biologists; next was the stint at a square-dance resort in the mountains of northeast Georgia, and for some period of time, restored historic homes in Pensacola.
Today, Gwen and Preston live in the Pine Mountain foothills of Georgia. At seventy-four, she still runs a homestead, hauling horse manure for the garden and chicken feed for the coup; only now, long, cold boat rides are a thing of the past. A champion of the local food movement, Gwen and Preston started their county's farmer's market, and buys from local dairy and grain farmers to make her own bread, butter, yogurt, and jelly. She still receives letters from inspired readers asking for advice, and has maintained correspondence with other friends and pen pals she met through her writing for decades.
"If I had not had all these experiences, of investigating all these other alternative lifestyles, it would have been like living in a box for years," Roland says. "I can't imagine my life without learning all of these different trades, meeting all of these skilled and interesting people and telling their stories."
Roland will share the importance of passing on skills and stories to your loved ones at a Q&A on Saturday, April 23, along with a presentation on Sunday, April 24. Visit readonebook.org for more information on OBOC events throughout March and April, and learn how your local branch is participating.
Sponsored by East Baton Rouge Parish Library
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