Like his young fictional hero, Noah Marlin, Gilbert Byron (1903-1991) was a Chesapeake Bay waterman’s son. He taught school for many years in Maryland and Delaware, but with the acceptance of The Lord’s Oysters, he left teaching to devote full time to writing.  He lived for many years in a waterfront cabin he built himself near St. Michael’s, Maryland. During his lifetime, Byron published 14 books, over 70 short stories, and hundreds of newspaper articles, earning him the titles of “Chesapeake Thoreau” and “The Voice of the Chesapeake.”  This is likely the largest collection of writing about the bay areas ever produced by one person.