Raised most of my childhood in Pasadena, CA, I graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in history. I spent 2 years in the army prior to the Vietnam War. I am a retired eighth grade English and American history teacher, having taught 31 years in Orinda, CA. I enjoyed coaching many of my school's boys and girls sports teams. Basketball was my favorite sport. My wife and I have lived the past 17 years in Florence on the Oregon coast. In late 2011 I took great pleasure in giving my children and grandchildren copies of my novel “Crossing the River,” a legacy of sorts, an expression of who I am, a testament of what can be achieved by hard work. I became serious about writing after I retired from teaching. I had my English students write narration and dialogue that stressed visual clarity and character emotion and conflict. Loving language and the ability of certain authors to utilize it, having thoughts of my own about the nature of man, I wanted to express myself. Most of what I read is historical fiction. A historical novel should educate as well as entertain. I want to learn how people lived at a specific time, what they thought, and what they valued. I want historical generalizations that are agreed upon by historians individualized by the characters, real and imagined, that the author chooses to depict. I want the fiction to be unique, not subject matter that other writers have portrayed. My novel has many characters. The major events of April 19, 1775, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord, are the accumulated results of their varied experiences. I enjoyed especially creating these three individuals: Lexington militiaman Simon Winsett attempts to assist a redcoat deserter while trying to resolve his neighbors’ and his family’s ill regard of him. Lincoln school master James Hayworth seeks to avenge the death of his dear friend and neighbor, minuteman commander Isaac Davis. Redcoat corporal John Howe spies for General Gage and seeks to rise above his station.