ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Greetings,” the letter began.

And thus in May of 1963, he was informed that the U.S.Army needed him.

It was a two year need, but he opted for an eight month school which extended his initial draft for another year. Cryptography machine repair training took place in steel screened, locked, caged rooms behind secured walls at Ft. Monmouth, NJ. Afterward, a year in Viet Nam, and then a year in Germany. He took a European discharge and roamed Western Europe, Morocco, Denmark, and the UK before returning to his parents’ home in Detroit with fifty-five cents in his pocket.

In 1967, he joined the Detroit police department. Salary, $7,424/year.
Two months after graduating from the police academy, the Detroit riots began.

James married in 1977. He divorced his Corvette in 1979—no room for groceries or a baby seat. Father of three, grandfather of four. He and his wife live in Oxford, MI, on a hilltop surrounded by an acre of grass and pines.

Interests:

Writing, reading, gardening, and target shooting.