Mike Due

My Life in the Wake of Norris Lake Mike Due

Randal "Turkey" McNew is a well-known boat repairman and dry dock operator who lives along the shores of Lake Norris, Tennessee. His parents operated a marina in Greasy Hollow in the 1950's. Turkey, along with his four siblings, helped their parents make ends meet by working the docks. After leaving the lake area during his high school years and working on heavy equipment in the coal industry, Turkey returned to build a career on the water. In the town of New Tazwell, Turkey built his business of helping boat owners keep their vessels afloat and in good repair. Got a houseboat on the bottom of the lake? No worries, Turkey to the rescue. Need a Party Captain? Turkey will take you out on the water for a good time. Need a place to keep your boat during the off-season? No worries, Turkey's got just the spot with his dry dock business. In this biography, Turkey will share his knowledge of the region, including stories of how the lake was built, yarns about the rich and famous who have passed through the area over the years, and stories of murder and mystery. It is a Tennessee tour-de-force of folk lore, focusing on mountain life as it once existed in the 1930's up to modern times. One of Turkey's main objectives for this memoir is to give the reader a clear understanding of what it was like for residents along the Tennessee River to give up their land in a massive relocation effort to make way for Norris Lake. In many cases, these were farms that had been cleared in the wilderness and passed down through several generations, only for the families who lived there to be told by the government that it would be their land no more. If they resisted, their living quarters would eventually be uninhabitable, submerged below the crystal-clear waters of Lake Norris. Anyone familiar with Norris Lake or any one of its 23 marinas will find this an entertaining and informative read. Note: Turkey's tales may be inappropriate for young readers.