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Jan 30, 2006

"The calm of the water speaks a certain wisdom to me, and I want the feeling of that wisdom and that experience to stay." --Diane Wilson

Unreasonable Woman

Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation shrimper, began fishing the bays off the Gulf Coast of Texas at the age of eight. By 24 she was a boat captain. In 1989, while running her brother's fish house at the docks and mending nets, she read a newspaper article that listed her home of Calhoun County as the number one toxic polluter in the country. She set up a meeting in the town hall to discuss what the chemical plants were doing to the bays and thus began her life as an environmental activist. Threatened by thugs and despised by her neighbors, Diane insisted the truth be told and that Formosa Plastics stop dumping toxins into the bay. After many years, Formosa conceded. And other companies followed suit.