'Doc Ford' author drifting aimlessly in financial waters

Randy Wayne White's salt-spray livelihood as a charter boat captain on Florida's Sanibel Island abruptly ran aground when the federal government closed his home port of Tarpon Bay to powerboat traffic in 1987.

Angry but undaunted, White took a daring tack and recreated that eccentric world in novel form, called it Dinkin's Bay, and sailed off into a decidedly different, and far more lucrative, direction.

White has been hailed as the rightful heir to Mickey Spillane and John D. MacDonald for his 12 two-fisted waterborne mysteries starring Marion "Doc" Ford, a brooding marine biologist running from a shady past as a covert government assassin. His first Doc Ford mystery, "Sanibel Flats," was chosen by the American Independent Mystery Booksellers Association as one of its 100 favorite mysteries of the 20th century.

Adventure is what White does best, in life and in art. As a longtime contributing editor to Outside magazine, he has traveled extensively and written firsthand accounts on all manner of adventures, from dog sledding in Alaska to bat fishing (yes, the flying variety) in the Amazon. He has helped return Little League baseball to Cuba and hauled refugees to freedom during the Mariel boatlift. His nonfiction collections are filled with the same generous mix of comedy, courage and endearing humanity that have made his Doc Ford novels required beach reading.

A so-so student with a lifelong love of books, White grew up dreaming of worlds far removed from his Iowa farm life. The first chance he got, he lit out for adventure, traveled extensively, married at 22 and wrote seven mysteries under a pen name while spending 300 days a year on water as a fishing guide.

Today, the Doc Ford creator sells hats, shirts and his own line of Doc Ford-inspired hot sauce through his Web site. He is also partner in Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille, which opened in 2003 on Sanibel, just 15 minutes by windsurfer from his Gulf of Mexico beach home.

Bankrate.com spoke with the adventurer by phone at his Pine Island home.

Bankrate: Where did you grow up?

Randy Wayne White: I was born in Ohio and lived on a very small farm in a very remote part of Ohio. We moved to Davenport, Iowa and I finished three years of high school there. All of my family is from North Carolina and I spent most of my summers there, so that's at least partially home. Florida is my real home; I've been here since 1972.

Bankrate: Were you a typical farm kid?

Randy Wayne White: Well, I don't know. It was certainly a solitary life; my brother is five years older, my sister five years younger. I was an amazingly poor student. I mean, I was a nice guy, I wasn't a troublemaker or anything, but for whatever reason, I just had trouble understanding. I went back to my old high school to be inducted into their Hall of Fame and they showed me some of my old grades and it was heartbreaking for me. But I loved books and grew up reading. I always thought if I could write a book, maybe I could be part of the magic I found in books. But I never really thought I was smart enough or capable of that.