Fort Brown

This is a collection of four short stories and three essays with a critical introduction. The people in these stories, both fiction and non-fiction, are all on the fringes of society. They are experiencing financial ruin, emotional turmoil, sickness, mental instability and other struggles. This material is an examination of their lives and the alternately humorous and tragic attempts of coping with their circumstances. Some of the pieces are related to the shrimping industry in the Port of Brownsville, one is about prostitution in Mexico, still others are about social misfits in California and other parts of the country. But the one thing that unites the collection is these persons’ struggle to survive and hold on to what is theirs. The critical introduction explores the background of Jeannie Marie Floyd and her growth as a wife, sister, writer, daughter and academic