When I was a newspaper reporter, a great editor, the late Hank Pearson, told me when looking for a story, “Remember you border on the rest of the world.”
It was a great lesson in how to capture more stories and more readers by showing how we’re more connected to the rest of the world than we realize.
Author Lynn Cook Betz grabbed that lesson as well when she wrote the book, My Right Hand To Goodness: The Life and Times of Crazy Dale Varnam.
Lynn‘s book led me to create a five-part series on Carolina Buzz that you can watch here.
Lynn explains how she and her husband Thom moved to Supply, North Carolina, near Varnamtown and she began hearing about the fishing villages nefarious past that included the infamous drug dealer Pablo Escobar.
She realized she had the start of a great book once she met Dale Varnam at his crazier establishment Fort Apache.
In this first segment you will meet Lynn and Dale while getting a view of Fort Apache and how the book and the decade of research began.
The book is really a story of redemption with Dale as the main character. He’s a kind and funny man. But he admits he had some connections to the devil created by a poor community hit by an economic downturn for small fishing companies. He brought dollars and lifestyle to Varnamtown, including some Playboy Bunnies seen mowing his lawn.
Yet, we come to understand that the drug trade may have also had some not so pure US government fingerprints on it.
Remember, we’re talking about the 1980s. The US government under Ronald Reagan was trying to fight off communist insurgencies in foreign countries. One of them was Nicaragua where the Sandinistas were trying to take control.
Illegal drugs and Pablo Escobar apparently took advantage of that. As a result, the cheaper crack cocaine actually infiltrated and destroyed many poor US communities.
But then you ask yourself, why was Varnamtown involved?
One of the answers is that the drug cartels were being tracked in Miami. Varnamtown is a quaint little village along the desolate coast of North Carolina. And the private planes that they used could easily get from Miami to Varnamtown and back without refueling.
In this segment, we delve into the geopolitical aspects of Varnamtown.
Again, the book is really about the lessons learned by Dale Varnam. Ironically, he turned state’s evidence on a lot of other people in the region who were involved in the drug dealing. But Dale himself eventually went to prison because he violated terms of his probation.
Still, Dale today seems as happy and crazy as if nothing happened, although he doesn’t shy away from talking about his past.
And the booming Brunswick County also seems to have had no ill effects because of the drug trade in the 1980s.
In fact, there is a good chance that that the drug trade may have led to, although not entirely, the economic and population growth of Brunswick County.
We explore that in segment three.
Lynn’s book is so in-depth examining Dale and many other characters involved in drug dealing, the investigation and the prosecutions.
Once I read the book, I told Lynn that “this is screaming for a streaming TV series” such as Fargo or Breaking Bad.
Kyle McLaughlin, the star of Twin Peaks, along with his executive producer wife, Desiree Gruber, saw that too. As a result, Kyle partnered with Josh Davis, of Epic Magazine, and created their own podcast about Varnamtown.
I was able to corral them on a zoom to hear their perspectives.
In this segment, Kyle and Josh talk about the blurred storylines from decades ago which makes the Varnamtown saga even more fascinating.
Thanks to my years in Hollywood studying screen writing and story structure, I had no choice but to delve into which actors could play some of the characters from Varnamtown.
Kyle thinks there’s a role for him in there. While I offer my longtime friend Bryan Cranston, of Breaking Bad fame, as a possibility to play Dale.
Again, if you have any casting suggestions, put them in the comment area on this page.
So far, there is no definitive production for this Varnamtown saga.
We will keep you posted on that.
In the meantime, I would highly suggest reading Lynn‘s book. Here’s a link.
First, it is a fascinating trek into the guarded and secluded world of the fishing villages and the characters of Brunswick County North Carolina back in the 1980s.
Second, if you are coming down here to either join the rest of the crowds that are changing their addresses, or taking a well-deserved vacation, the book will give you some added curiosity as you enjoy the region.
John Daly is the host of Carolina Buzz, covering business and entertainment along the booming Carolina coasts. Carolina Buzz is produced by Wingding TV. Need to get your businesses story out, contact us. Yes, we’re more than video production company. We provide digital marketing that touches your audience far better than old style media. We can propel your business here and beyond the Carolinas. Call us at 843-272-1901. In addition, John is a former newspaper and TV news reporter starting his career in New Bern, NC where he was arrested for an investigation he aired.