Outside Reading Post 4

I told you about Richie Kohler from the last chapter but Chapter 6 is dedicated to him growing up to who he is today. His dad was German and mother was Italian. He grew up in New York to embrace being German and Italian. Kohler's father, Richard Kohler, was a glass maker but also a hard working man that Richie looked up. Richie's father on the weekends spent time with Richie and his brother, they would go sailing and do many things on the ocean. At the age of 7 Richie knew more about sailing and scuba diving than any teenagers did. Richie also was taught how to make glass by his father and was natural. He was proud of his German heritage and as a kid followed in his father's philosophy that said, "If you want more, you have to be more" (Kurson, 122). Richie was a force to be reckoned with and nothing was going to stop him from doing what he wanted.

Richie does encounter some problems in his lifetime though. At a young age his parents argued and separated. His mother woke him and his brother in the night and told them to pack up, they were going to Florida to live with his grandmother. Richie didn't see his father for a very long time. He went to school down there a made a friend that was in his Algebra class, he was also German and loved things like German U-Boats. It then skips ahead to Richie moving back in with his dad. He worked with his father for awhile before he learned that his dad was going out with his ex-girlfriend. (creeper) His father then gave him the option of staying and living with it, or leaving. Richie thought about it for a few seconds then said to his father, "I'll take the door" (137). He then found his own place and joined another glass making company and his skills quickly earned him recognition by the owner and became a parter of the company. During that time Richie picked up diving again, on his first wreck dive he went to the USS San Diego, an easier 110 feet, but it was there that he became obsessed with artifacts and other historical things. Richie started diving every weekend and more difficult wrecks that would scare instructors. He started diving with 6 guys that the book refers to a "Thugs" they dived collected as many artifacts as they could carry then celebrate by drinking as much beer as they could consume, Richie fit right in. For the first time in three years he comes in contact with his father again, by this time Richie had married and was expecting a child, his father had been disconnected for so long, he had no idea. They decide to start their own glass company and Richie feels part of him has returned. Richie and his new 6 diving friends start the Atlantic Wreck Divers, they did what they wanted where they wanted. Life was good for Richie Kohler.