I was born into the Army, served there myself, and wandered the world for thirty years, living in twenty-one cities in six countries. I attended various universities for seven years without ever amassing enough credits in any one subject to get a degree. Finally I settled, like a barnacle holding fast to a piling, in Florida. When it came time for me to pick a place to settle down I wanted water activities and beaches. I also decided to live and work in a place everyone else dreams of retiring to. It’s a decision I’ve never regretted. Since then I have canoed and sailed almost every Florida waterway and SCUBA dived on almost every reef and wreck. I've been a reporter for a wire service, written for magazines, edited several magazines, and written books, including several Florida travel works. I suppose I’m a native now. As they say, I have ‘sand in my shoes.’