Back in 1972, Lee Hendrix started a job as a deckhand on a towboat on the Mississippi River. It was the start of a more than 50-year career traversing America’s waterways. Hendrix, a St. Louis native, would later pilot towboats and passenger ships — and work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Hendrix is the author of “Peep Light: Stories of a Mississippi River Boat Captain,” a 2024 memoir that details what made his life on the water so adventurous and dangerous.
He joined St. Louis on the Air to talk about his memoir and recent writing on the effects of tariffs on the barge industry and the treacherous history of the Chain of Rocks.
To hear more about Lee Hendrix’s experiences on the Mississippi River, including why most boat captains despise the Eads Bridge, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
