David Murray attended Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship at Piney Point, Md. He began his maritime career as a deckhand on two Mississippi River towboats before switching to the blue-water merchant marine, where he shipped for ten years as an Ordinary Seaman and Able-Bodied Seaman. He earned a B.S. in Speech Pathology at St. Louis University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in English at Washington University, then taught writing, humanities and communications for 18 years at a small private college in St. Louis. He joined The Waterways Journal in 2008 and currently serves as a Senior Writer. He is excited to see the current attention toward reviving the merchant marine and believes We Work The Waterways has a key role to play in that revival.