Ex Libris “Yukikaze”
For entertainment, I do something highly unusual in today’s high-technology times: I READ. Here’s a partial list of favorite authors and their primary characters, in no particular order:
Leslie Charteris* (Simon Templar aka “The Saint”)
P. G. Wodehouse* (Jeeves, Bertie Wooster and many others)
W. J. Burley (Chief Supt. Charles Wycliffe)
Richard Marcinko (the “Rogue Warrior”)
Loren Estleman (Amos Walker)
Donald Hamilton* (Matt Helm)
Neil Albert (Dave Garrett)
Georges Simenon* (Chief Supt. Jules Maigret)
Bernard Cornwell (Richard Sharpe)
J. P. Marquand* (Mr. Moto)
Ron Ely (Jake Sands)
Arthur Upfield* (Insp. Napoleon Bonaparte)
Ross Macdonald* (Lew Archer)
Marcia Muller (Sharon McCone)
Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone)
Robert Randisi (Miles Jacoby, Nick Delvecchio)
August Derleth* (Solar Pons)
Brian Daley* (Alacrity Fitzhugh & Hobart Floyt)
Alan Hunter (Chief Supt. George Gently)
Robert B. Parker (Spenser & Hawk, Sunny Randall)
Noreen Ayres (Smokey Brandon)
Katherine V. Forrest (Det. Kate Delafield, LAPD)
Claire McNab (Insp. Carol Ashton)
Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum, Alexandra Barnaby)
Tony Hillerman (Lt. Joe Leaphorn & Sgt. Jim Chee, Navajo Tribal Police)
* deceased
I collect books on military & naval history, and military & naval biographies. (I extend very special, unending gratitude to Mr. David Levy, for the precious gift of his copy of Admiral William F. Halsey’s autobiography.)
I also write creative fiction. My current focus is on a science-fiction action-adventure canon, written in the ‘blood and thunder’ tradition of the old pulp magazines (I like to think it’s what some of the more daring pulp writers would have produced if Roth v. U.S. had been the law of the land in the 1930’s). I have one novel-length (85,000 words) typescript almost ready for market (click here for a "book jacket" synopsis of this story), another in process, and a third awaiting reconstruction. Current plans are to publish this work in E-book format. Inquiries from reputable publishers are always welcome – but the money flows to me, not the other way around.
My library includes a hardcover copy of The Caine Mutiny and a hardcover copy of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial stage play (which I finally had the opportunity to see performed earlier this year). For a long time, I have been curious about what might have happened to the principal characters in the story after it had ended. Over time, I have compiled these thoughts into a speculative document which I have come to call "The Caine Musings".
George Henry Thomas (Major General (Regulars), US Army) paid a high personal cost for his decision to remain loyal to the Union. At the same time, his Virginia roots colored the judgment of his peers against him during the Civil War/War Between the States. But I consider this man my hero. To find out why, click here (currently under construction).