October 28th - Fred Hendrix

Fred Hendrix has been on the move the past three years. Since the summer of 2005 the 64-year-old Bay St. Louis resident has lost his home to the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina, his state-provided replacement trailer to Hurricane Gustav, and his nightclub on Bourbon Street to a “pesky” landlord.

Despite his personal difficulties, and the large role government has played in repairing (or not repairing) parts of the Gulf Coast the man who has next to nothing left says he doesn’t want anything from the government.

Fred Hendrix in Bay St. Louis, MS on October 28th, 2008

“If I could vote for a Libertarian candidate right now I would,” Hendrix said. “The last person I felt strongly about voting for was Ross Perot in 1992. He wasn’t some sorta professional politician and promising to give things out to people.”

Hendrix is a self-made man with a trustworthy grin and a manner that warms the room. He isn’t thrilled about the candidates, and for someone who has lost so much, it’s a reminder of how even in times of ultimate duress some people keep a cool head and a hearty spirit.

Hendrix owned the The Tricou House nightclub for 24 years before the slowdown of post-Katrina and the pressure from “greedy landlords” forced him to sell it off. According to the lifetime Gulf resident, who’s house was also lost to the storm, it wasn’t so bad, “I moved to Jamaica for a year and had a little place on the beach until the money ran out,” Hendrix said.

When he returned to the states he moved into a Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (M.E.M.A.) trailer with his son. Hurricane Gustav destroyed the trailer in August. He says is now building a new house that should be ready in a few months.

Working as a busboy at the Rickey’s Restaurant of Bay St. Louis (the restaurant was previously located on Waveland, MS Main Street but was destroyed during Katrina and is now relocated in a strip mall) has been a pleasure for Hendrix and he says he plans to work on some website ideas he has and will move back to Jamaica once they are successful.

“I’m not too worried about this election to be honest, because there isn’t much they have done or will do for us down here anyways,” Hendrix said. “I think Obama’s got some good leadership, but to be honest, I’m ready for next Tuesday already.”