Island author John van Amerongen caught a big fish when he landed the story for his new book, “Catching a Deckload of Dreams,” which van Amerongen will discuss and read from at 6 p.m. Friday at the Vashon Bookshop.

Van Amerongen served as editor-in-chief of the Alaska Fisherman’s Journal for over two decades, changing jobs in the last several years to work in media and marketing for Trident Seafoods one of the largest seafood harvesting and processing companies in North America. Trident is also where van Amerongen met Chuck Bundrant, chairman and founder of Trident Seafood and the subject of his new biography.

Bundrant’s story is a classic rags-to-riches tale — only with a salty twist. Bundrant grew up on the rolling green fields of Tennessee knowing nothing about the wild frontier waters of Alaska. But from the moment he landed in the 49th state, during the winter of 1961, Bundrant caught a dream and didn’t let go.

The book jacket reads “The story of Chuck Bundrant and the Trident Seafoods is more than a business biography. It’s a tale of true grit, salt air and danger, with breaking waves, shallow sandbars and shaky business deals to navigate against a backdrop of global politics, huge financial risk and enormous economic expansion in a remote place called Alaska.”

Van Amerongen writes in the introduction that “Cathching a Deckload of Dreams” offers readers the vicarious opportunity to sit at the table with Bundrant as he swaps stories with his partners. This Friday night offers readers the real opportunity to sit with van Amerongen as he describes Bundrant’s backstory and what it took to write his biography.