I was a Navy brat, attending 15 different schools before going to college. Two of those schools were in the Panama Canal Zone, where I lived from 1955 to 1957. My stay there provided the source material for my first novel, THE YOUNG BALBOAS, a coming-of-age epic that unfolds in the lush Panamanian jungle. I taught English literature for thirty-two years in Maryland, where I was cited for producing successful scores on the National Advanced Placement Test in English at twice the rate of teachers in other schools. I was also nominated for Teacher of the Year. Outside the classroom, I've been a nationally ranked tennis player, and I fish in bass tournaments in Maine, where my wife and I own a log cabin on the shores of Lake Cobbosseecontee. Since retiring to Sarasota, Florida, in 2000, I've published five additional novels: SIXTY IN SARASOTA, SEXY IN SARASOTA, SENILE IN SARASOTA,THE RUPTURE, and THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY. The three Sarasota novels are comedy/mysteries set on the fabulous Sun Coast of Florida. THE RUPTURE, a send-up of the rapture, might be described as George Carlin meets Richard Dawkins. An alien travels to Earth from Alpha Centauri to forestall a religious war threatening to engulf the planet and winds up leading a revolt against religion itself. His two secret weapons are stand-up comedy and a fleet of enormous UFOs. My latest novel, THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, is a paranormal mystery and legal thriller set in Maryland and Maine.