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 January 2014

Florida - Anclote Key Lighthouse

The Anclote Key Lighthouse is located Near Tarpon Springs, FL.  The brown skeleton iron-framed tower, nearly 100-feet high, was built in 1887. The building materials were prefabricated at a northern iron works and delivered to the site. The lantern room was equipped with a third-order Fresnel Lens and the light was visible for 16-miles. However, strobe lights winking from a lofty industrial smokestack on the mainland eventually rendered the old lighthouse unnecessary. The station was decommissioned in 1984 and the light has remained inactive. Since then, the abandoned tower has suffered significantly at the hands of vandals and ceaseless effects of weathering.

I viewed the Anclote Key Lighthouse in the year 2000 from the Fred Howard Park. In order to get this picture I used a 500mm lens with a 2X coupler on my camera with tripod.

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Those cast iron tubular lighthouses leave something to be desired, don't they? Exterior masonry adds a lot of character.

Thu Jan 09, 07:26:00 PM CST
Al said...

Hi Richard. You are right. They're not beautiful to look at like other type lighthouses, but they did the job of providing navigational aid to the mariners.

Thu Jan 09, 08:17:00 PM CST

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