About Me

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After retirement, for two summers I worked as a tour guide at the Umpqua River Lighthouse in Oregon. This opportunity enabled me to learn more about that lighthouse than any of the others I've seen. Although I have personally visited and photographed over 300 lighthouses in the United States and three Provinces in Canada, the Umpqua River Lighthouse has special meaning for me. That Lighthouse inspired me to write two fictional books with the characters working, living, and enduring the challenges of lighthouse keeping. All pictures posted in this blog were taken by myself, unless noted otherwise.

Book Info.

I hope you will find time to enjoy my books. Preview the book covers below at the right side of page.

Book #1: "The Wickie and the Umpqua Lighthouse." Detail: "The Wickie and the Umpqua Lighthouse" is an 1860's story about the lighthouse keepers and their families at the Umpqua River Lighthouse. It will stir your emotions and warm your heart. Discover the challenges they met but never expected, and their determination to maintain navigational aid to mariners on the Oregon coast. (Wickie is a nickname used by the early lighthouse keepers at the Umpqua River Lighthouse in OR.)

Book #2: "Spirit of The Lighthouse" is a sequel to The Wickie. Detail: Jesse Fayette, assistant keeper at the Umpqua River Lighthouse, finds himself alone to operate and maintain an Oregon lighthouse after the accidental death of his head keeper. After notifying the Lighthouse Board and requesting help, he is surprised but must deal with an acquaintance, Red Saunders, who believes the lighthouse is haunted.

Book #3: "Unexpected Moments" has a different theme than those of Book #1 and #2. Detail: Dan and Megan, as well as their old friends Jim and Anna, experience unexpected moments of hardships and tragedies in Arizona and California. Will they survive these unexpected moments and find any hope for their futures?

All of my books are available on Amazon.

12 March 2015

A North Carolina Beauty - Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Located on Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Outer Banks, NC, this lighthouse built of brick in 1870 towers 208-feet above the sand.

The original lighthouse built on the Cape in 1803 was only 90-feet tall and built of sandstone. Its light was provided by a series of lamps and reflectors. In 1852 that tower was raised to a height of 150-feet. Two years later, the lamps and reflectors were replaced by a first-order Fresnel lens. During the civil war the lighthouse was badly damaged, and authorities determined it would be less expensive to build a new one a few hundred yards from the original.

Construction of the present lighthouse was finished in 1870. The distinctive daymark of four spirals, two black and two white, which extends around the tower 1 and 1/2 times was applied in 1873. The light is now provided by a duplex airport beacon and operates daily from dusk to dawn.

During the summer of 1999, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was relocated 2,900-feet inland to it's present location due to shoreline erosion. At the time of my visit here in 2000, work from the move was not complete as shown by the orange barrier fence next to the lighthouse and the unfinished landscape in the foreground of my picture. The lighthouse was open to the public, however, the keeper's quarters, which houses a museum and gift shop, was not yet open in June of 2000.

Thanks to Lighthousefriends.com, below is a picture of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse after completion of the landscaping.



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