Recently, a friend sent me this photograph from a company newsletter published in 1979 announcing that several employees of the Antarctic Support Division of Holmes & Narver, Inc., had been awarded the Antarctic Service Medal by the National Science Foundation. It was a proud day for those of us gathered around that conference table. Regrettably, some of those great people are no longer with us.
I had the privilege of serving on two occasions as the manager of contract support services provided to the scientific research efforts conducted on and around the southern-most continent. The government agency charged with overseeing the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) is the National Science Foundation’s Division of Polar Programs. You can learn about their responsibilities, including how to apply for employment, at this website: http://www.usap.gov/
My first term as manager occurred in the last half of the 1970s when Holmes & Narver (H&N) held the contract with what was then called the United States Antarctic Research Program (USARP). This hero shot shows me during my first trip to Antarctica standing on Observation Hill above McMurdo Station with Mount Erebus (an active volcano) in the background. My second term as manager took place in the early part of the 1990s when Antarctic Support Associates (ASA), a joint venture of H&N and EG&G, provided contractual services to USAP.
I am proud to display my framed Antarctic Service Medal of the United States of America and its accompanying certificate of award “For Service in Antarctica.”
I was also fortunate that the NSF recommended, and the United States Board of Geographic Names approved, a feature in Antarctica to bear the name Murphy Peak in recognition of my work to support scientific research on the frozen continent in 1976-80 and 1990-92.
The old H&N newsletter article and photo shown above reminded me of all the wonderful people with whom I have been associated while working in Antarctica. It is an honor to be considered an OAE (Old Antarctic Explorer).
As many of you know, every few weeks I post on the Mad About MG History blog. On February 4, 2016, I wrote a post for that blog entitled “The Revenant and the Mountain Men.” This posting incorporates portions of “Revenant and The Iron Horse Chronicles” that I posted on this website on January 25, 2016, but it is greatly expanded and includes recommendations for reading about Hugh Glass and the other mountain men.
Preditors & Editors has announced the results of their 17th Annual Readers Poll, in which Bear Claws, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book Two, was awarded fifth place for Young Adult books published in 2015. Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One, had been awarded seventeenth place for Young Adult books published in 2014. It is a great thrill to be able to include the “Top 10 Finisher” logo on this website.
Writer’s Digest, an invaluable tool for authors, lists Preditors & Editors as one of its 101 Best Websites for Writers, because it provides help to authors in “bypassing publishing scams and fraudulent organizations.” My publisher, Five Star Publishing, always receives a clean bill of health from Preditors & Editors.
The R rated movie is based upon a 2002 novel by Michael Punke. Punke takes literary license with his telling and creates a more dramatic conclusion than probably occurred. I will not reveal how history books present the ending of the Glass saga. I recommend you see the movie and enjoy what I believe to be a realistic portrayal of the life of Hugh Glass and his fellow mountain men. Then, if you are interested, you can explore the bizarre ending that most likely happened.
In Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles—Book One, I introduce Charles “Bullfrog Charlie” Munro, a mountain man who befriends young Will Braddock. Bullfrog helps Braddock learn about the wilderness and aids him in overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Bullfrog is 65 years old when he appears in Eagle Talons, where he reveals Jim Bridger gave him his name. Bullfrog may have been with Bridger on the expedition when Glass was attacked by the bear, but we will never know.
Once upon a time (probably late 1968) two little princesses frolicked with their father (a commoner) on a beautiful beach on the island of Oahu. Elizabeth, the older princess, had been born in the kingdom of France in 1963. To tell the truth, France was a republic at that time governed by Charles de Gaulle, who undoubtedly thought he should have been a king. Anastasia, the younger princess, was born in 1967 in the kingdom of Hawaii. Well, it was no longer a kingdom then, and hadn’t been for some time. Hawaii had been admitted less than a decade earlier as the fiftieth state in the United States.
After a day enjoying sunshine and laughter in the breaking waves of the Pacific, the trio would return to their Queen Emma Gardens apartment in Honolulu for an early dinner. Then they’d settle in for a session of reading a good book. Raggedy Ann typically joined Princess Anastasia during the engrossing time that Princess Elizabeth entertained us all with a grand fairy tale.
The princesses grew up, but they still share time with their father. In 2015 they came to Nevada, the magical land of never-ending entertainment, to assist in The Iron Horse Chronicles’ book signing event held at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Beth, standing to my right, is dressed as Jenny McNabb, a principal character in my historical, frontier trilogy. Stacy, to my left, is wearing more traditional western wear.
Lodgepole Creek features prominently in Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One. The creek rises in the Laramie Range of the Rocky Mountains in southeastern Wyoming, flows eastward across the southwestern corner of Nebraska, and joins the South Platte River near Julesburg in the northeastern corner of Colorado. This map, contained in Eagle Talons, shows this important watershed which was chosen by the Union Pacific as its route westward during the construction of the first transcontinental railroad.
Last year the Historical Novel Society reviewed Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles–Book One. Quote: “He has mixed fictional and historical characters with great success by adding depth to their character descriptions. The novel is rich in historical detail about the early transcontinental railroad and the Hell on Wheels, a temporary community that would follow the construction of the railroad.” The link to that review: 
As the author of The Iron Horse Chronicles, I wish all of my readers a Happy New Year. 2015 was a successful year for me as a writer. Eagle Talons, the first book in my trilogy about the quest of a young man who heads west at the time of the building of the first transcontinental railroad, won the 2015 Bronze Will Rogers Medallion Award for western fiction for younger readers. It was a thrill to join all of the first-class authors of books in many western genres at the Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas, in October to receive the award.
In November 2015, Bear Claws, the second book, was released by Five Star Publishing. It has received many excellent reviews. Most importantly, numerous readers have personally expressed their pleasure in being able to continue to follow the adventures of Will Braddock in his quest to determine his own destiny. I will be submitting Bear Claws for consideration for a 2016 Will Rogers Medallion Award. Keep your fingers crossed.
Following double rib lamb chops for me and petite filet mignon for Barbara, plus assorted other courses, we finished the evening with Michael’s marvelous Cherries Jubilee.
RSS - Posts