I've always been a "hands on" writer and journalist, which is to say that I have not spent my entire career at a keyboard.  In addition to the professional positions I've held, I've also worked in hop and grape harvests, as a forest fire fighter, in a lumber mill, as a ranch hand and for a major aircraft manufacturing company. My literary influences were shaped by writers also strongly identified with California; Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Jack London, William Saroyan, John Steinbeck, Joan Didion and Ernest Callenbach. I was mentored by screen writer and character actor True Boardman, Jr., who taught me to write novels for the screen.  I also enjoyed a long pen pal correspondence with Leon Uris, whose work I come close to idolizing. Other writers who have had a strong influence on me include, but are not limited to:  Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Service, Erich Maria Remarque, Donne Byrne, James Michener, William Manchester, James Clavell, E. B. White, C. S. Forester, Nevil Shute and  Tom Clancy    

Letter of Appreciation - Amnesty International 2012
US Senator Patti Murray Letter of Appreciation for NSJ Blog 2009
Editors Choice, International Library of Poetry 2008
Congressman Edward Murray Letter of Appreciation 2005
Congressman Frank Chopp Letter of Appreciation 2005
Hersch Best Read on the Net Award for The Northstar Journal 2000, 1999
President Bill Clinton Letter of Appreciation 1998
Workers Of Oregon Development Certificate of Appreciation 1988
City of Canyonville Police Department Certificate of Appreciation 1988
City of Canyon Mayor’s Office Certificate of Appreciation 1988
California Supreme Court Justice Rose Bird Letter of Appreciation 1986
Northwest Magazine Editorial Board Letter of Appreciation for Rain 1985
Editorial Award, Society of Professional Journalists 1981
Sacramento Bee Metro Column 1979
Honor Roll: California State University Long Beach 1974-76
Deans List: Long Beach City 1973