About the Author
This is the author's first book in what he feels will be many. He feels the Lord has greatly blessed him and he has a strong desire to share his blessings and knowledge with others.
The author is a private man who has lived a somewhat simple, quiet and common life. He considers himself poor when it comes to worldly wealth, but rich with the treasures of heaven. He is a man without letters or degrees and has suffered the plight of the modern man, including a bitter divorce in 1982.
His faith in God and his hope in the future of mankind has helped him recoup and move forward despite many emotional and financial setbacks. He has spent his life in working to provide for his family. In addition he has volunteered much of his time, talents and resources to community services in church, scouts, sports and local politics.
He graduated from Earl L. Vandermeulen H.S. in 1967 where he enjoyed playing football as a linebacker for the Port Jefferson Royals. He has a great love for all sports and enjoys being a team player. He also attended B.O.C.E.S. and graduated from this state run trade school with a certificate in Electronics Technology. In addition he has earn many credits at Suffolk County Community College and NYIT in electronics, liberal arts, science, and business.
The author loves books, poetry, the scriptures, music and writing which has caused him to write his life history and keep a daily journal. His childhood home is on a cliff overlooking Long Island Sound. So there in his own backyard as a youth he learned to enjoy all the water sports such as swimming, snorkeling, diving, boating, skiing, and fishing.
Following his baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the author became immersed in the "Mormon Culture". He was called and served a honorable mission as a full-time missionary in the California North Mission from June 1972 to July 1974. As an ordained Elder he enjoyed much success in teaching and baptizing people into the Kingdom of God. This was a voluntary calling in which the author earned most of the money to pay his own way. His parents though not members of the church contributed much to make up the difference.
Upon completion of his mission he secured a job with Stone & Webster Engineering Co. at a construction warehouse in Shoreham. He advanced to a construction specialist and was transfered to a construction site at Millstone, CT in 1982. In 1985, he left Millstone and joined United Engineers & Constructors to help complete the Seabrook project. During that project he lived in Exeter, NH with his family. Upon completion of Seabrook in Aug. 1986, he went to work for Sargent Electric at the Beaver Valley, PA project. In Mar. 1987 he returned to his home town of Rocky Point on Long Island to join LILCO to help complete the Shoreham project. Today (2003) he is a Public Works Sr. Field Coordinator for KeySpan Energy and lives in Long Beach , NY.
During this time(between July 1974 & present) the author has been married twice and fathered six children. He started his first family while working at Shoreham and living in Calverton, NY. He started his second family while working at Millstone and living in Mystic, CT. He is first and foremost a family man who loves his beloved wife Beth and his children Rob, Mike, Dave, Emily, Guy, and Matthew. Like you, he struggles to provide for the needs of his family temporally, emotionally and spiritually. This he says, is his greatest labor "to bring peace and happiness to my own home which in essence is a never ending story".
The author believes that the Book of Mormon is the key to finding happiness in this life and the life to come. For within the pages of this sacred book, Jesus Christ reveals himself and promises to try our faith, upon which if we prove worthy of this test he will give us the greater light and the true pure knowledge of the future. These chapters (1Nephi 14, 3Nephi 26, & Ether 4) in the Book of Mormon sustain the author's belief in this matter.
The author has seen, heard and felt much by the power of the Holy Ghost and the following is his vision of Long Island:
"I see Long Island as a great fish, a prize unto the Lord. He has sent his whaling ship, the Plainview Stake(church) to secure its oil, the souls of many men, a bounty of righteousness. It is our great commission to reap this field which is ripe and white already to harvest. The Wards(smaller churches) are the whaling boats on which we(the saints 'members') sit waiting to find and harpoon the whale. Our testimonies of this work is the great harpoon. The time has come to send our testimonies forth in the might of the Lord. When this is done and it hits its mark, the work has just begun. For like the whalers of old, we will be taken on a 'Nantucket Sleigh Ride' till we prove worthy and win the fight. Some may fall overboard during this hectic ride if they are not secured on all sides. However, I see us winning a great victory and bringing this whale unto our church to be processed into oil to light many a lamp to witness to all the world that Jesus is the Christ and heads The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Long Island will shine with the light of Zion's fire and be a great witness to the whole world of this latter-day work."
We wish the author great success in this his first publication and hope to hear much more from him in the future.
