How do you describe a decades-long friendship? Dr. John Dindo says he and Bob “simply meshed.” Thanks to his work at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) as the senior marine scientist, Dindo knew Bob, one of his best friends, better than most. That’s not to say, however, that Bob was unknown to others. Far from it.
You probably know Bob as former University of South Alabama marine science professor, researcher and author Robert L. Shipp, Ph.D., who recently passed away in January at the age of 81.
Shipp, whose legacy impacted friends, family, colleagues and students alike, spent two decades at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL), 40 years at the university and 20 years as chair of the Department of Marine Sciences, retiring from the latter in 2013. Enter the Dr. Shipp known by the general public, whose work was (and still is) well respected in academic and political circles alike; who literally wrote the book on Gulf Coast marine and environmental science; who taught at the DISL while simultaneously founding South’s Department of Marine Sciences; whose knowledge, research and experience commanded the attention and respect of classrooms, colleagues, columnists and Congress alike.
That’s the Dr. Shipp you’ve read about, seen on local television news, and heard students and professors praise across social media. The acclaimed marine scientist, the distinguished professor, the world-renowned researcher.
But here in this special moment of fond remembrance, bookended by coffee and scientific discourse, Dindo — along with his wife Charlene — opens up about the man with whom he had developed a deep friendship. It was a friendship that extended far beyond academics, research and science, but it stemmed from a combination of all three.
“I came down here in 1975,” he begins. “And obviously, I met Bob right away…[He] was offering a couple of really good classes on fish identification and fish physiology. We became really good friends almost instantly because I was doing my research for my masters and doctorate, and I also had to run the Discovery Hall Program. So, Bob was a source for me to go to for teaching content and information.”
Bob’s love for people not only made him magnetic and likable, but also immediately set him apart from other stiff scientists of his day. “In the late 1970s, most scientists were very good at their jobs, but they were reclusive,” says John. “Unless a reporter asked them directly about their research, they didn’t talk with many people. They wrote grants. They published papers. They went to scientific meetings. They expressed their research to fellow scientists. But certainly not to anyone else. Bob was different. He was a great scientist, yes, but he was also a people person.”
Commonalities and similar hobbies are often the mark of a good friendship, and John and Bob were certainly no exception. “Robert loved to fish, but he wasn’t a good fisherman,” says John with a hearty laugh. “But, regardless of skill, he absolutely loved to fish. We went fishing a lot together. We had a lot of similar interests. He had stories. I had stories. We shared so many things. Sometimes there’s just chemistry between friends and you can be relaxed with someone who you feel good about and that’s how Bob was. He just made you feel good.”
Speaking of stories, John recalls one time in particular when, even in the face of potential danger, Bob’s sense of humor was on full display. “I remember he had a boat. It was this 18-foot fiberglass boat,” he says. “We knew Hurricane Frederick was coming [at the time]. This was back when Bob was living off Ziegler Boulevard. We all advised him to take the boat and move it somewhere, but not next to the house. He said, ‘No. It’ll be fine.’ So, the boat stayed right where it was, and a tree fell down and squashed the top. Of course, Bob kept the boat. But when the tree hit it, it separated the top from the bottom of the boat, so all the way around the edge, the boat was open.” Later, the pair rode offshore on the compromised vessel. “We started hitting some waves, and water was coming into the boat!” exclaims John. “So, he pulled the plug in the back and he says, ‘Well, this is just a flow-through system.’ I said, ‘Bob, we’re going to drown out here because of this boat!’”
Fishing and science aside, perhaps the most memorable shared passion between the two was their mutual love for cooking, a hobby in which John still engages today.
“If it hadn’t been for John and Bob, Linda [Bob’s wife] and I would’ve been eating cereal and soup every night because we didn’t cook,” says Charlene with a laugh. “We had some little lab houses at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. If you were an adjunct professor, like in the summer, you had a house. It was like a three-bedroom, one bath house. John taught full time in the summer and at nighttime. And Bob taught in the summer. And so, our houses were together. And when John and Bob would get off work from teaching, they would come home to starving wives and kids. And they would both go to the fridge and come up with something to cook for us. They did that for 10 years. I never had to come up with meals because they took care of it for us.”
The pair had several signature dishes and would often make minor adjustments to the recipes to keep things interesting. “The shrimp Victoria and chicken curry were two meals we would do a lot together,” says John. “Each time, one of us would say, ‘We need to do it this way.’ And the other would say, ‘No we need to do it this way.’ We were always trying new things with the recipe and changing things out, or we’d get into an argument over, ‘No, it’s not like that. It’s like this. You have to thicken it this way.’”
The camaraderie found in the kitchen, coupled with the joy of cooking, continued to unite John and Bob time and again. And, as it turns out, their passion was infectious. “The fellowship found in cooking is what really brought Bob and I together,” he says. “And it was more than just us. It was Bob and Linda, George and Deanna Crozier, and Charlene and I. The six of us would get together almost every weekend, sometimes multiple times per weekend, and we would drink wine and cook. It’s what we did. And we did it for 45 years. We miss him tremendously.” However, John smiles once more, a hint of childish mischief in his eye as the next story brews.
“There was a place on Airport Boulevard [back in the day] that sold high-end kitchenware,” says Charlene. “I think it was called Marche de Gourmet. It used to be down there just before the police station. Somehow, they contacted John and Bob and said, ‘Will y’all come do some cooking classes for us?’” “That’s right. They had a kitchen set up,” says John. “People would pay to come in and Marche de Gourmet would invite different chefs to come in and cook and prepare meals, you know, with the big glass window behind you. They invited Bob and me down there. And so, we accepted.”
John details their first outing and says it was a little more adventurous than they had anticipated, but hilarious nonetheless. The two were even subjected to a little heckling, but not by any audience members or patrons as you may suspect. “The first time we did this, there was wine being served,” he recalls. “My wonderful wife and Linda [Bob’s wife] sat in the very back. The wine was being poured; people were drinking. Bob and I were up front and we were starting to prepare to do our thing. And we suddenly start getting heckled from the back of the room. We look around and it’s our wives! They’ve had too much wine and they’re heckling us. They’re saying things like, ‘Hey! Have you ever done this before? Have you caught any squid?’ Of course, no one in the audience knew who they were. We did three or four of those classes together.”
John shakes his head, laughs and lets out a deep sigh. “We had so many friendships with great people at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab,” he says. “The fish and science were important, of course, but it was really the cooking that continually brought us together again and again.” John still finds himself smiling often in his kitchen, thinking of Bob and cooking up a storm. If you ask us, Bob wouldn’t have it any other way.
AS BOTH A SCIENTIST AND AVID FISHERMAN, DR. BOBB SHIPP LOVED NOTHING MORE THAN TO SHARE HIS CATCH WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. HIS BOOK, “FISH OF THE GULF OF MEXICO,” INCLUDES JUST FOUR RECIPES AND THIS CURRY IS ONE OF THEM. THE FLAVORFUL SAUCE IS PERFECT OVER THE SOMETIMES STRONG FLAVOR OF SPANISH MACKEREL, ACCORDING TO SHIPP.
Dr. Bob Shipp’s Curried Fish
serves 4-6
3 tablespoons flour
2 pounds fish, deboned and cubed
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chutney
3 cups cooked rice
sliced green onions and cilantro for garnish
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour flour on a plate and dip fish in flour to coat all sides.
2. Heat butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add fish and cook, turning until all sides are brown. Remove to an oven proof baking dish and set aside.
3. Add more butter to saute pan if needed, then add onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add all remaining ingredients except rice and cook for several minutes, stirring to combine. Pour sauce over fish and bake for 20 minutes.
4. Spoon fish and sauce over rice and garnish. Serve immediately.