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.

09 November 2017

The "To Scale Model"



Everyone knows all books have a cover, but they may not know every author does not involve their self in designing and preparing details of their book cover. Most authors, I believe, leave the cover design to their publisher.

In the case of my book, The Wickie, I was determined to design the cover myself. There were no pictures available to me of the original 1857 Umpqua River Lighthouse, so early in the process I realized it would be a harder task and more time consuming than imagined. Through determination and creative photography, I was able to accomplish my goal of bringing that first Oregon lighthouse back to the banks of the Umpqua River via my book cover.

However, this achievement would not have been possible without the "to scale model" pictured below. Colin MacKenzie of the Nautical Research Center in Petaluma, California built the detailed model several years ago from the engineer drawings. His work and generous donation of the model to the Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum, Winchester Bay, Oregon made it possible for me to take pictures of the model. Those pictures, and others I took of the river, were used to design the front cover for my book. The cover is pictured to the right side of this blog post.


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