My early life began in 1936 when I began working at the age of twelve. I graduated from high school in Edmond, Oklahoma and was soon in the Navy learning to fly, then learning how to repair airplanes, in that order. I attended Oklahoma A&M college and transferred to the University of New Mexico where I earned a degree in mechanical engineering. Subsequently, I began to work for the Corps of Engineers in Alburquerque until I transferred to Tripoli, Libya. I have spent my entire working life as an engineer outside the United States, finally retiring from Aramco in 1981.

My interests include sailing my 42 foot boat around the Caribbean; oil painting copies of the old masters and impressionists and most of all, writing. I have written twenty-four books and am writing another book about the Russian Civil War.