William Warner, R.I.P.

William Warner, dead at 88, wrote the definitive tale of the blue crab, and the life of the Chesapeake Bay waterman

Date published: 5/2/2008

IN 1976, when William Warner wrote "Beautiful Swimmers"--his land- mark, Pulitzer Prize-winning look at the Chesapeake Bay blue-crab industry--there were 9,000 full-time watermen working the bay. Harvests rose and fell based on demand and the cyclical nature of the crab population.

Today, full-time bay watermen number in the hundreds, crab harvests are at historic lows, and strict measures are seen as necessary to prevent the species' demise.

Mr. Warner, whose book remains the definitive work on the blue crab's high place in Chesapeake Bay culture and lore, died April 18 at his home in Washington. He was 88.

"Beautiful Swimmers" was his first book, and reading it, or rereading it, will remind those who treasure the bay and its trademark crustacean of the way things used to be, and should be still.

Wrote Mr. Warner, just a few hours after shoving off one autumn morning from Deal Island, Md., with two seasoned watermen:

"9:30 a.m.: Seven barrels of picking crabs and two baskets of Jimmies [adult males]. Almost 1,000 pounds of crabs! Slight rest with coffee and Cokes as we head south and west out into Tangier Sound. Can now make out the northernmost marshes of Smith Island, a flat pencil line of dark gray against the lighter grays of sea and sky."

Those catches, and the waterman's pursuits, are severely diminished now. "Beautiful Swimmers" serves not only as a narrative of the past, but as a goal to set for the future.

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Date published: 5/2/2008