Max Hardberger
Encyclopedia
Florian Max Hardberger is an American adventurer, ship captain
, aviator
, ship recovery specialist, admiralty law
yer and author of maritime fiction
and non-fiction adventures.
in Lebanon, Tennessee. He became a licensed aircraft pilot
at the age of 16 while at Castle Heights. Hardberger attended college at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana then transferred to the University of New Orleans
for another two years of study. In 1969 he graduated early with a BA in English. During college, Hardberger became a SCUBA diver
, skilled sailor and navigator
. After college, Hardberger attended the Program in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa
(commonly known as the "Iowa Writers' Workshop"), where in 1972 he received a Master of Fine Arts
degree in Fiction and Poetry. In 1998, Hardberger earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern California University School of Law in Sacramento, California, and was admitted to the State Bar of California
.
with his 1999 novel, The Jumping-Off Place, which was a tribute to the hardboiled
detective novels of Raymond Chandler
and Dashiell Hammett
. On April 6, 2010, Hardberger's auto-biography about his ship recovery adventures was published by the Broadway Books
imprint of Random House
, entitled SEIZED! A Sea Captain's Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World's Most Troubled Waters. A paperback edition of SEIZED for the British Commonwealth market will be released by Nicholas Brealey Publishing on June 24, 2010.
As a devotee of the hardboiled
school of fiction, Hardberger's writing style offers gritty realism. Like his life, many of Hardberger's books are set in the seedy world of international business. His protagonists are often like himself, savvy, sardonic, and capable of violent action, and his villains are drawn from the panoply of miscreants he's met as a ship captain and maritime lawyer. Hardberger's stories are fact-based, real-world adventures from the underbelly of world commerce.
in Louisiana. Hardberger then worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houma Daily Guide in Houma, Louisiana
. He left the newspaper to explore Mexico in an old school bus before returning to the United States to attend graduate school. After he received his MFA degree
in 1972, Hardberger taught English at All Saints Episcopal School in Vicksburg, Mississippi
. He left teaching to work as a drummer in various blues
bands on the Chitlin Circuit.
Magcobar Mercury in the Gulf of Mexico. After he earned a captain’s license, Hardberger’s employer sent him to the Dresser-Magcobar Drilling Fluids School in Houston to learn how to become a drilling fluids engineer
, also known as a “mud man.” Hardberger initially worked in oilfields off the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast
and then worked as a drilling fluids consultant
in Guatemala during the Guatemalan Civil War
. Between oilfield hitches, Hardberger continued his flying lessons, earning commercial and flight instructor
licenses, and took a wide variety of flying jobs, including towing banners, dusting crops, doing nightly check runs for banks and transporting dead bodies for mortuaries. Hardberger also delivered aircraft to Central America.
Hardberger returned to the classroom for the 1984-85 school year, when he taught English and world history at Pope John Paul II High School (Slidell, Louisiana)
. Hardberger briefly returned to the oilfields of Guatemala in 1985, then began crop dusting on a full time basis in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. At the end of the 1986 crop dusting season, Hardberger traveled to Miami, Florida to search for new work.
was overthrown as the ruler of Haiti in 1986, trade opened up between the United States and Haiti. The Miami River
was the loading port for many small freighters in the Haitian trade. After Hardberger left crop dusting, he searched for and soon found work on the Miami River
as the captain of a small freighter engaged in that trade. Among his commands was the Erika, a small freighter which transported cargoes throughout the Caribbean. Hardberger's voyages on the Erika were the basis of his 1998 semi-autobiographical novel, Freighter Captain.
, Venezuela. This action required Hardberger to sail the vessel out of port under the cover of night and without a clearance, in violation of Venezuelan law. This operation was Hardberger's first vessel "extraction" and is detailed in his autobiography, Seized.
Hardberger left MorganPrice in 1990 to form his own marine consultancy business in Louisiana. He was periodically retained by shipowners to extract their vessels from lawless ports without a clearance from local authorities. In 1998, following his admission to the California Bar, Hardberger began to practice maritime law alongside his marine consultancy and vessel extraction business. In 2002, Hardberger formed the ship repossession company Vessel Extractions, LLC (“VessEx”) to extract vessels that have been illegitimately detained or seized in foreign countries. In 2004, Hardberger was featured in The Learning Channel series, Repo Men: Stealing for a Living, in a segment entitled "Repo Adventurer," documenting his extraction of a 10,000-ton freighter from Haiti during the 2004 rebellion and his delivery of the vessel to her mortgagee in the Bahamas.
"...'Not yet, by God, not yet!' It was a saying I’d first used when I once survived an engine fire in a single- engine plane over Chetumal, Mexico. I’d put the fire out by diving straight down at VNE, the never- exceed speed. After I managed to land at
the Chetumal airport, I jumped out onto the tarmac and danced around the smoking fuselage, shaking my fists at the sky and shouting 'Not yet, by God, not yet!' The Mexicans who came to rescue me thought I was crazy."
"International waters are worse than the Wild West. In many ways, there is little or no opportunity to avenge the wrongs people have done to you ..."
"His life certainly reads like a Hollywood movie."
"[Hardberger's adventures] can lead to shenanigans of Indiana Jones proportions ..."
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
, aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, ship recovery specialist, admiralty law
Admiralty law
Admiralty law is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans...
yer and author of maritime fiction
Sea story
-Description:The enclosed setting of life aboard a ship allows an author to portray a social world in miniature, with characters cut off from the outside world and forced to interact in cramped and stressful conditions....
and non-fiction adventures.
Education
Hardberger received his high school degree in 1966 from the Castle Heights Military AcademyCastle Heights Military Academy
Castle Heights Military Academy was a private military academy in Lebanon, Tennessee, USA.The Academy was founded as Castle Heights School in 1902. In 1918, it became a military preparatory school. The school ceased operations in 1986 in the face of declining enrollment...
in Lebanon, Tennessee. He became a licensed aircraft pilot
Private Pilot License
A Private Pilot License or, in the United States of America, a Private Pilot Certificate, is a license that permits the holder to act as the pilot of an aircraft privately . The requirements to obtain the license are determined by the International Civil Aviation Authority , but the actual...
at the age of 16 while at Castle Heights. Hardberger attended college at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana then transferred to the University of New Orleans
University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor...
for another two years of study. In 1969 he graduated early with a BA in English. During college, Hardberger became a SCUBA diver
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
, skilled sailor and navigator
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
. After college, Hardberger attended the Program in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
(commonly known as the "Iowa Writers' Workshop"), where in 1972 he received a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
degree in Fiction and Poetry. In 1998, Hardberger earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern California University School of Law in Sacramento, California, and was admitted to the State Bar of California
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
.
Literary career
Hardberger's first book was Deadweight: Owning the Ocean Freighter (1994), a textbook on ship ownership. He followed Deadweight with his first novel, Freighter Captain (1998), a semi-autobiographical account of his adventures as a ship captain in the Caribbean. Hardberger then moved from maritime subjects to a murder mysteryCrime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
with his 1999 novel, The Jumping-Off Place, which was a tribute to the hardboiled
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
detective novels of Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
and Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
. On April 6, 2010, Hardberger's auto-biography about his ship recovery adventures was published by the Broadway Books
Broadway Books
Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., released its first list in Fall, 1996. Broadway Books has since published many New York Times bestsellers in hardcover and paperback, including Elizabeth Edwards’ memoir Resilience, Bill O’Reilly’s memoir A...
imprint of Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, entitled SEIZED! A Sea Captain's Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World's Most Troubled Waters. A paperback edition of SEIZED for the British Commonwealth market will be released by Nicholas Brealey Publishing on June 24, 2010.
As a devotee of the hardboiled
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
school of fiction, Hardberger's writing style offers gritty realism. Like his life, many of Hardberger's books are set in the seedy world of international business. His protagonists are often like himself, savvy, sardonic, and capable of violent action, and his villains are drawn from the panoply of miscreants he's met as a ship captain and maritime lawyer. Hardberger's stories are fact-based, real-world adventures from the underbelly of world commerce.
Teaching English and playing music - 1969 to 1976
After college, Hardberger started his professional career with a short stint teaching English at Mandeville High SchoolMandeville High School
Mandeville High School is a Division 5A public high school, in Mandeville, Louisiana. It is located in Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana and is part of the St. Tammany Parish Public Schools system. Mandeville is a suburban community within thirty miles commuting distance to the metropolitan area of...
in Louisiana. Hardberger then worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houma Daily Guide in Houma, Louisiana
Houma, Louisiana
Houma is a city in and the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, and the largest principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's powers of government have been absorbed by the parish, which is now run by the Terrebonne Parish...
. He left the newspaper to explore Mexico in an old school bus before returning to the United States to attend graduate school. After he received his MFA degree
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in 1972, Hardberger taught English at All Saints Episcopal School in Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
. He left teaching to work as a drummer in various blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
bands on the Chitlin Circuit.
Working in the Oilfields and Flying Airplanes - 1977 to 1985
In 1977, Hardberger returned home to Louisiana to work as a deckhand and then as a mate on the oilfield supply vesselPlatform supply vessel
A Platform supply vessel is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil platforms. These ships range from 20 to 100 meters in length and accomplish a variety of tasks...
Magcobar Mercury in the Gulf of Mexico. After he earned a captain’s license, Hardberger’s employer sent him to the Dresser-Magcobar Drilling Fluids School in Houston to learn how to become a drilling fluids engineer
Mud engineer
A mud engineer works on an oil well or gas well drilling rig, and is responsible ensuring the properties of the drilling fluid, also known as drilling mud, are within designed specifications.-Use of mud:Mud is a vital part of drilling operations...
, also known as a “mud man.” Hardberger initially worked in oilfields off the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast of the United States
The Gulf Coast of the United States, sometimes referred to as the Gulf South, South Coast, or 3rd Coast, comprises the coasts of American states that are on the Gulf of Mexico, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and are known as the Gulf States...
and then worked as a drilling fluids consultant
Mud engineer
A mud engineer works on an oil well or gas well drilling rig, and is responsible ensuring the properties of the drilling fluid, also known as drilling mud, are within designed specifications.-Use of mud:Mud is a vital part of drilling operations...
in Guatemala during the Guatemalan Civil War
Guatemalan Civil War
The Guatemalan Civil War ran from 1960-1996. The thirty-six-year civil war began as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist and military usurpation of civil government , and the President's disrespect for the human and civil rights of the majority of the population...
. Between oilfield hitches, Hardberger continued his flying lessons, earning commercial and flight instructor
Flight instructor
A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to fly aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate the knowledge and skill level of an aviator in pursuit...
licenses, and took a wide variety of flying jobs, including towing banners, dusting crops, doing nightly check runs for banks and transporting dead bodies for mortuaries. Hardberger also delivered aircraft to Central America.
Hardberger returned to the classroom for the 1984-85 school year, when he taught English and world history at Pope John Paul II High School (Slidell, Louisiana)
Pope John Paul II High School (Slidell, Louisiana)
Pope John Paul II High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Slidell, Louisiana. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.-Background:Pope John Paul II High School was established in 1980....
. Hardberger briefly returned to the oilfields of Guatemala in 1985, then began crop dusting on a full time basis in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. At the end of the 1986 crop dusting season, Hardberger traveled to Miami, Florida to search for new work.
Commanding Ships - 1986 to 1990
When Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" DuvalierJean-Claude Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier, nicknamed "Bébé Doc" or "Baby Doc" was the President of Haiti from 1971 until his overthrow by a popular uprising in 1986. He succeeded his father, François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, as the ruler of Haiti upon his father's death in 1971...
was overthrown as the ruler of Haiti in 1986, trade opened up between the United States and Haiti. The Miami River
Miami River (Florida)
The Miami River is a river in the United States state of Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through the Downtown and the city of Miami. The long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay...
was the loading port for many small freighters in the Haitian trade. After Hardberger left crop dusting, he searched for and soon found work on the Miami River
Miami River (Florida)
The Miami River is a river in the United States state of Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through the Downtown and the city of Miami. The long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay...
as the captain of a small freighter engaged in that trade. Among his commands was the Erika, a small freighter which transported cargoes throughout the Caribbean. Hardberger's voyages on the Erika were the basis of his 1998 semi-autobiographical novel, Freighter Captain.
Recovering Vessels - 1990 to present
Hardberger left the Erika to work for a Miami-based ship owner, MorganPrice & Co., as port captain responsible for overseeing port calls by the company's ships. During this period, a MorganPrice freighter, the Patric M, was seized by a shipper in Puerto CabelloPuerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State about 75 km west of Caracas. As of 2001, the city has a population of around 154,000 people. The city is the home to the largest port in the country and is thus a vital cog in the country's vast oil...
, Venezuela. This action required Hardberger to sail the vessel out of port under the cover of night and without a clearance, in violation of Venezuelan law. This operation was Hardberger's first vessel "extraction" and is detailed in his autobiography, Seized.
Hardberger left MorganPrice in 1990 to form his own marine consultancy business in Louisiana. He was periodically retained by shipowners to extract their vessels from lawless ports without a clearance from local authorities. In 1998, following his admission to the California Bar, Hardberger began to practice maritime law alongside his marine consultancy and vessel extraction business. In 2002, Hardberger formed the ship repossession company Vessel Extractions, LLC (“VessEx”) to extract vessels that have been illegitimately detained or seized in foreign countries. In 2004, Hardberger was featured in The Learning Channel series, Repo Men: Stealing for a Living, in a segment entitled "Repo Adventurer," documenting his extraction of a 10,000-ton freighter from Haiti during the 2004 rebellion and his delivery of the vessel to her mortgagee in the Bahamas.
Quotes by Max Hardberger
"I'm sure there are those who would like to add me to a list of modern pirates of the Caribbean ...""...'Not yet, by God, not yet!' It was a saying I’d first used when I once survived an engine fire in a single- engine plane over Chetumal, Mexico. I’d put the fire out by diving straight down at VNE, the never- exceed speed. After I managed to land at
the Chetumal airport, I jumped out onto the tarmac and danced around the smoking fuselage, shaking my fists at the sky and shouting 'Not yet, by God, not yet!' The Mexicans who came to rescue me thought I was crazy."
"International waters are worse than the Wild West. In many ways, there is little or no opportunity to avenge the wrongs people have done to you ..."
Quotes by Others About Max Hardberger
"What do you call a man who surreptitiously boards stolen sea freighters under cover of darkness, guiding a motley crew of island natives and sea-weathered sailors to steal the ship back for the good guys? A man who hires witch doctors to help him escape? A man who has spent his 59 years as a ship captain, scuba diver, aircraft pilot, flight instructor, surveyor, attorney, writer, musician, and even a high school English teacher? He must be a fictional character, the stuff of tall tales and action adventure, a Renaissance man larger than life and full of surprises. Is he a Pirate of the Caribbean? A modern-day Indiana Jones? ...""His life certainly reads like a Hollywood movie."
"[Hardberger's adventures] can lead to shenanigans of Indiana Jones proportions ..."
External links
- Max Hardberger's Official Website
- Max Hardberger's fan page on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
- Max Hardberger's page at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
(IMDb) - Max Hardberger's author page at Random House
- Max Hardberger's YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel - Max Hardberger's author page at The Literary Group International
- Max Hardberger's bio at Vessel Extractions, LLC