Haiti
Since the Eighties, when Max first visited Miragoane, Haiti as a ship captain, he has been involved in the development of Miragoane as a port and commercial hub. He has close ties with the port, town, and regional governments, and has worked to bring industry and employment to the area. He was instrumental in bringing the first new enterprise to Miragoane since Reynolds Aluminum closed its bauxite mine in 1982: in 2004, he established the Nippes Development Company (NIPDEVCO) and brought a shipbreaking operation to the old Reynolds facility. He also supervised the rebuilding of the Reynolds airport, which had been abandoned for 25 years. Now named the Wilberforce Airport, it was officially reopened on August 12, 2005 with an inaugural landing that included the governor of the Department de Nippes (the state of which Miragoane is the capitol) as a passenger. During those ceremonies, Max was commended by the governor for his efforts in bringing investment and development to the region. Click here to learn more about Max's interest in Miragoane and economic opportunities there.

Belize
Max has lived and sailed in Belize for 35 years, and he maintains close ties with the country's business and legal communities.

Sailing
After 35 years of solo ocean voyaging in a variety of sailboats, including a 26' converted lifeboat, Max now sails a 36' Piver trimaran based on the US Gulf Coast. He is also the director of the International Sailing Organization, formed to establish standards for certification of sailing-vessel masters.

Flying
Max has been a licensed pilot since he was 16 years old and he holds a commercial pilot's license with multiengine, instrument, and flight instructor ratings. He's held jobs towing banners, dusting crops, teaching flying, flying corpses, running checks for the federal reserve system, and delivering planes to Central and South America. His stories span the gamut of flying adventures, from the sheer terror of an engine fire at 10,000 feet over a Mexican jungle to the humor of trying to start an airline in Haiti.

Stunts
Max occasionally performs stunts for film productions and is a member of the Louisiana Stunt Association. Click here to view Max on the association's website. He is currently training under Phil O'Dell, a noted Hollywood stunt coordinator. Max has demonstrated proficiency in high falls (to 30 feet), fights and weapons. In 2008, Max served as a stuntman in the horror film Lockjaw: Rise of the Kulev Servent, starring DMX.

• Post-War Italian films (particularly those by director Michelangelo Antonioni)
• chess
• sailing
• reading (military history, espionage, hard-boiled detectives, nautical fiction and non-fiction, historical non-fiction, classical literature)
• scuba diving
• motorcycles

• Michelangelo Antonioni (Italian film director)
• Ingmar Bergman (Swedish film director)
• James Joyce (poet and novelist)
• Shakespeare (the Bard himself)
• Raymond Chandler (hard-boiled detective novelist / creator of “Phillip Marlow”)
• Horatio Hornblower (fictional naval captain)
• Richard Halliburton (explorer / adventurer)
• Capt. Joshua Slocum (sailor / adventurer)