The Mullet Man: A 70-Year Lesson on Race, Friendship and Courage | R.W. Fields
Podcasts > I Am Refocused Radio Show
Monday, August 3, 2026
Author R.W. Fields joins I Am Refocused Radio to discuss his debut novel, The Mullet Man, a moving coming-of-age story inspired by events he experienced in the Deep South during the summer of 1955.
The story follows Richie, a young white boy whose love of fishing leads him across the social boundaries of his community and into an unlikely friendship with Ulysses, an elderly Black fisherman known as the Mullet Man. As their bond grows, Richie begins confronting the realities of racism, poverty, fear and the unwritten rules that were designed to keep people apart.
Fields reflects on the childhood experiences that remained with him for nearly 70 years, why he began writing his first book in his eighties, and how honest relationships can challenge prejudice more powerfully than arguments alone. The conversation also explores critical thinking, the courage to question inherited beliefs, and why the lessons of 1955 still matter today.
The Mullet Man is ultimately a story about friendship, trust and what can happen when two people choose to cross the creek dividing them.
Get the book: https://a.co/d/0awpM32o
