The author was born in 1934 on a farm near the village of Andice, TX. After receiving an Associate Degree from Tarleton State College, he attended and graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1957, receiving a BS in Education and a commission in the United States Air Force. This led to a twenty-year career as an Air Force pilot, (including several combat tours in Vietnam), a short tour flying for a foreign airline, and eighteen years as a civilian flight instructor. In 1999, he retired to Euless, TX, where he lives with Ruth, his wife of fifty-three years.