Marijuana smuggling is a big focus of the 35th Throwback Thursday, my August 2011 dinner at since-closed Lana in Charleston, South Carolina, with author Jason Ryan. He told me about his book “Jackpot: High Times, High Seas and the Sting That Launched the War on Drugs,” a non-fiction account of the South’s infamous pot smugglers who used several points in Charleston to move their drugs.
Our talk also touched on other topics, including the new child that he and his wife were expecting. Jason is a wonderful dining companion, and we covered a lot of ground in the interview, and hung out after to chat off the record.
Jason is still writing, and recently released his latest book, “Race to Hawaii: The 1927 Dole Air Derby and the Thrilling First Flights That Opened the Pacific.”