Something Better Than Fun
Stalking the Depths with Captain Jehovah
Hemingway-esque bad boy Richard Ford is a devoted homebody, with a peripatetic streak and a pair of spaniels
He speaks for New Jersey
“The last time I went fishing with Captain Jehovah I hooked myself under the back of my hand,” Richard Ford said as he scanned the ethnic food aisle at Hannaford’s, searching for a jar of tapenade. “I tried to push it through the underside of my skin so we could cut the barb off. But skin is tough.” A friend on the boat — a famous author — told him to “stop being a pussy” and just take a swig of whiskey so he could get it over with, he told me as he strode with purpose towards the pickles and olives section. Ford had scheduled us for a fishing charter with Captain Jehovah in the morning. “Is that what you did?” I asked. “Hell no. This wasn’t Andersonville,” Ford said, referring to the Confederate prisoner of war camp. He weighed the merits of jarred pesto. “I went to the hospital.” His phone rang. “That’s probably my sweet girl calling me now.” Richard Ford isn’t a bad boy. He’s a sweetheart. A darling. An angel. That is, according to his wife, Kristina — his “sweet girl,” who he …