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About the Author My
first tour out of the Naval Academy in the mid-fifties
was an unbelievably great tour on the destroyer Buck steaming
throughout the Pacific on two deployments. Then it was off to Navy
flight training and a succession of eight fighter squadrons ashore and
onboard carriers flying mostly the venerable Phantom jet.
Interspersed were two years in the Stanford MBA program, CNO aide duty,
command of a large supply ship and the carrier Forrestal and
finally, as the head guy for Navy flight training. Early on, I was
lucky to have joined up with my long-time wife Carolyn who stuck by me
in good times and tough and raised two wonderful girls.
After
retiring from the Navy in the mid-eighties, I lucked out again and
served as president of two publicly owned maritime cruise ship
companies, American Cruise Lines and Europa Cruise Lines, and returned
to the sea as second mate on the SS
Constitution and then onto a series of mini-adventures sailing
as a part-time master of civilian ocean-going research ships listening
for Soviet subs far north in the Barents Sea and drug interdiction in
the Pacific off Colombia. For the past thirty-six years, we have
lived in the Navy town of Pensacola where most of my time is spent
writing, traveling, seeing four grandsons and two daughters in Atlanta,
playing racquetball, critiquing the Blues and offering gratuitous
missives to anyone willing to listen.
Flash
forward eighteen years—2026: The
years fly by so fast; the winding pathways now memories that have
cushioned my life. Our two
daughters in Atlanta and families doing well. Three of my grandsons are
married with three greats, the fourth not far behind.
Sadly, my Carolyn passed away peacefully six years ago after 61
years of wonderful marriage. I am now 92, still motivating, albeit a bit
slower. Touching
The Sky is my finale. With
over 6,000 books sold or donated, I am comforted that so many from all
walks of life have spent hours happily reading my books, many of whom I
have stayed in touch with
over the years. A
Bientot: 'Til
we meet again. |
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