I'm a retired newspaper editor/writer and the author of 15 published novels and a non-fiction regional history. I've published articles, stories and illustrations in a variety of magazines. I began reading at an early age. That led to, first, drawing, then writing as I sought to emulate what I read, heard in tales from my elders or imagined. I served in the Army of our mutual uncle during the Vietnam era but instead of sending me to the war zone, the military posted me to South Korea. Though I've had other learning experiences and believe education is an on-going process I can truly paraphrase Melville and say .. the Army was my Yale College and Korea my Harvard. Both experiences have given me a wealth of writing material. After the Army, like so many other writers, I worked on newspapers (one has to eat) as I sought to write the Great American Novel. It still eludes me, but I continue to try.