Hey Ben, remember Sophomore year when we decided to try out for the Golf Team? We figured hitting a little ball couldn't be too hard, so we gave it a shot. Went to the first couple practices (which went horribly), then the coach took us into the restaurant at the clubhouse, bought us each a Coke and told us we probably weren't gonna make the team. We were a couple of smartasses...
Fast forward to December 2001. I was sitting on the couch at the Fire Station watching the news. They said a crab boat had rolled off of Newport; they showed a picture and I immediately recognized your boat. I hadn't seen you for a couple years, so I had some hope that you weren't on the boat. The next day I found out you were gone...
Salt in our Blood kept me up reading until 2:00 AM this week. The words were so easy to relate to. It is a life I knew, and one I continue to be a part of. As I wait to send off our oldest son to tender with Neil for the summer, then on to king crabbing, it was a story that dredged up so many emotions. My heart hurts for your loss. A loss that every fishing community knows and experiences, but always we are, like you said, secretly glad the loss is not our own. The fear I feel cannot compare to the pain you carry. I am so very sorry. What a wonderful legacy you have created for your son.
Thank you all so much for sharing your life. Your book has really affected my life in a good way.Although I have never been lucky enough to live near the sea.I have visited San Diego CA.several times and the smell of the salty air and everything else that has to do with the ocean touches my soul. I feel like its where I belong.I am so sorry for the loss of your son Ben though his life was short it seems like it was full.I hope you all are doing well.Just know he is now part of the sea a place I am sure he truly loved.Mrs Eder I think you should write a cookbook because every night I would read your book the description of the meals you would prepare would make me so hungry I would have to get up ane grab a snack! Once again thank you for touching my life deeply. Sincerely J.L. Dowell
I was Ben and Dylan's nanny when Bob and the boys lived in Port Orford.
One of my favorite memories of working for Bob is taking the boys to the dock to see their dad when the boat would come in. The pure joy and excitement on their faces (and Bob's) when they saw him was priceless. I was heartbroken when I learned of the accident that took Ben's life. I will always remember that beautiful little boy with the blond hair and that incredible smile.
Bob, thank you for letting me be a small part of your life.
he book has touched me so profoundly. I feel as if I have a deep bond with the Eder family, whom I have never met. Thank you for this story which must have been painful to write and horrendous to live through. My heart goes out to you all. Learn, learn,learn
Michele, thank you for sharing your story with us. It was a heart warming and sad story, but it showed what family means. The sense of family is being lost in todays busy world. Whenever, I look out of our condo facing Agate Beach and see a light on the horizon, I will be thinking of all the men that are putting their lives on the line for us. Thank you, Marita (we met at the book signing in Portland)
Ben, Michele, Bob and Dylan
A very dear friend bought me "Salt in our Blood" as a Christmas present. As a resident of Lincoln County, I remember reading about the tragedy of the Nesika and I felt sad about that but not knowing your family it really didn't impact me directly at that time. I finished the book today and really couldn't put it down since I began reading it. It made me laugh at times and as a father,it made me cry. I also learned a lot about the fishing industry and its beauty and perils.
I now feel like I know Ben and what a wonderful life he had with such a supportive family and great friends. What a great adventurous spirit he had. His memory will live on to so many. I will honorably steal his phrase..learn, learn, learn, with the people close to me that I love!!
Thank you so much for sharing your story.
So it is three in the morning here in NYC. Strange indeed how such things remain the same. The website itself holds some relief for our memories. So I'm out to relate, a sadness and a presence which I think we both share. Somehow I've grown old indeed, but I still have a ramshackle beard and sweater. I think Ben would appreciate the shirt I'm wearing. I got it from a high school teacher in Panama. It concerns one of the truly great Panamanian festivals - El Toro Guapo, or the handsome bull. It is clearly imported from the Caribbean, and it has African drums in all mad house ruckus. This evening I went to a bar and had three distinct conversations with people which I think helped inspire another annual wake.
It is strange how the keys on the board bring feelings to the fore. Anyway, I continue to be touched, and humbled, by my friend, and I appreciate more perhaps those friends that I have now that he is gone.
Recently my grandfather died - another great hero from my experiencial epic. I don't really feel like he is gone, in some sense like I don't really feel Ben is gone. When we go about our quotidian lives, and we think that somehow we have forgone the ghost, and really lost ourselves once and for all, it is real that we have affected those in our lives in ways which are in fact real, and true, and inspiring.
So cheers to Ben, and his spirit roving in all of us.
Hello smiling face and the Eder family. I want to thank you for the copy of "Salt in our Blood". Having fished in Newport in the late 70s And living on a boat tied to dock 5 your book brought back a flood of memories many were pleasant and many are tinged with the sorrow of loss of friends like Dennis Ray of the Master Chris. I truly would have liked to have met Ben but by reading your book I somehow feel I have. May God bless the Eder family
your friend Larry Pfund
Hi Ben,
Yesterday Mr. Dempster sent me a note in the mail attached to a newspaper article about a man who writes tabloid stories just like we did in our little Psych. 2 class. That was so much fun with you and Jeff and Andrew. I still think of you, and miss you, and am inspired by you every day.