Tom Golabek was born & raised in Yonkers, N.Y in 1946. He joined the military as soon as he hit 18. He is a Vietnam combat vet '67 serving in the U.S. Navy for 5 years from '64-'69. Tom was a Gunners Mate mostly stationed on board the USS Barney (DDG-6), a guided missile destroyer, and attained the rank of Petty Officer 2nd class. Tom wrote his first book, while at his battle stations during the quiet times. It helped to fight the boredom and keep alert, The hero in this story was a New York City private investigator named Mike Murdock. Nicknamed by the police, his friends, and his enemies as MadDog. He was truly New York City's most violent private investigator. It took over 40 years to publish this book. There are now four books in this series. Some things just come slowly for Tom. He received a total of six awards and commendations yours is his time in Vietnam. The only problem was that most of them did not show up for 40 some years after he was discharged. They include the Meritorious Unit Commendation; The Combat Action Ribbon; The Vietnam Campaign Medal Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation The Vietnam Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal Sports achievements include running the Orange Bowl Marathon in '84, driving 150 mph around Daytona International Speedway, and achieving a golf handicap of six. Hobbies are poker and magic. He produced and is still selling a DVD on how to perform tricks with poker chips at Amazon.com. He played in eleven World Series of Poker events and a World Poker Tour Main Event. Tom was awarded "Magician of the Year" in 2005 as well as several "close up" magic awards. His favorite act was "Stash"... the comedic Polish magician that Poland was happy to be rid of. He also performed as "The Great Tombino." Tom lost his first wife to cancer. He later married Myrna Smith. They live in The Villages, FL.