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.

24 November 2016

No Lighthouse, Just The Rock Where The Pilgrims Landed



Plymouth Rock (America’s Cornerstone) located at Plymouth, MA is the symbolic stepping stone from the old world to the new. In 1741, Thomas Faunce, elder of the Plymouth Church, identified the Rock as the place where the Pilgrims first landed. Elder Faunce’s father, who was a passenger on the ship Ann in 1623, presumably heard it firsthand. In the late 1700s, the desire to have a lasting symbol of the forefathers quickly brought the Rock to the forefront of the popular consciousness.

Plymouth Rock became one of the earliest places of pilgrimage for Americans. It served as the symbol of the landing, the origin of Plymouth Colony and, by extension, the rest of New England and the entire nation.



Situated in the portico on the waterfront, Plymouth Rock is approximately one-third its original size. Over the years the Rock has been in various locations where souvenir hunters chipped away at it. Finally, officials relocated the rock on the waterfront and provided protection for viewing . A piece of the Rock, equal in size to the piece on Plymouth’s waterfront, can be found in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

No lighthouse, just the rock where the Pilgrims landed. Would they have felt safer arriving at Plymouth if there had been a lighthouse to guide them? I believe it's safe to say they and their leader, William Bradford, would have been thankful for a lighthouse to help them navigate to shore. Instead, they landed at Plymouth Rock without a lighthouse and established the town of Plymouth in the 1620s.
There is a lighthouse at Plymouth, but it was not built until years after the Pilgrims landed. It is known to locals as "Gurnet Lighthouse," and stands at the southern tip of the sandy peninsula known since the Pilgrim days as the Gurnet. (The word Gurnet derives from a fish of the same name and is plentiful along the Devonshire Coast of England.) 

Happy Thanksgiving.

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