It’s said there is no such thing as total honesty, but this narrative is as close to total as you will probably ever read. Sam’s understanding of the places he’s lived is filled with great empathy and feeling, yet he is also capable of seeing unvarnished truth.

He has somehow been in places and at moments that allowed his innate skills to be shown to the utmost, though he is prone to state he is quite an ordinary man.

Sam grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930s, World War II, and writes of Forest Service lookouts, fires, and the Smokejumpers of the 1950s and 60s. Hunting stories are replete with action, as are those having to do with all manner of small propeller planes in Alaska to jet fighters in Alaska, Germany, Vietnam, and Airliners throughout the United States and more. The prose you read here is certainly not highbrow but meant to be readable for nearly everyone. In short, there’s something here for everyone with curiosity built into his or her soul.