Author Biography
Richard Tennent studied creative writing as an English Major at the University of Michigan before joining the Navy. Volunteering for duty on a destroyer then operating in the Korean War combat zone, he rose in rank from Ensign to Lieutenant and to the positions of Deck Officer, Engineer Officer, and Command Duty Officer. It was while he was in Korean waters when he had his first, up close and personal experience with a hangfire that plays a role in this novel. Leaving Korea and entering the period of the Cold War, he served in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans and numerous seas, including the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. In addition to a typhoon and storms encountered in the Western Pacific, he endured numerous Atlantic hurricanes and major storms, including two winters in the stormy North Atlantic. All told, during his tour of duty on his destroyer he spent nearly nine hundred days at sea. After the navy, he graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Law and practiced commercial banking, business, and real estate law for forty-two years. For relaxation, he and his wife, Patricia, sailed their sailboat on the Great Lakes and enjoyed sailing vacations in the Chesapeake Bay, Florida, and Caribbean Sea. They have three grown children and ten grandchildren and live in retirement in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
