Because of You

Because of You is George's wild eighteen year ride from Hawaii to Guam and back, a trip through Nebraska that gets the State placed "Off Limits" to him, an improbable assignment to Norton AFB in San Bernardino, a suspected atomic blast at Twenty Nine Palms that becomes a public relations nightmare, hitchhiking from San Bernardino nightly to "dance and smooch." He meets and proposes marriage to a woman the moment he sees her, and takes the chance of a lifetime to win her heart. George relates a near disaster in Kentucky, a meeting of his California bride with his Grandmother, and six months of "hell in a handcart" at USAF Officer Candidate School. Unforgettable characters pop up including draft evaders caught in a Reserve Unit call to active duty, and the owner of a restaurant who acts like a Mother to young enlisted men. He meets Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell, and celebrates the birth of his sons, Jeff and Greg. Because of You is a love story, told from the perspective of fifty-six years. George becomes a problem solver with a conflict between his career and the woman he loves more than life. At 77, he is busy working on his next book, Side by Side. In an interview, he said, "Hell, I'm not old. Old is something you store in the garage or on a top shelf somewhere and forget it. I'm vital. I dance at least two hours a week, attend a writing class, work five days a year with gifted teens, and read a hundred books a year. Sometimes I even empty the dishwasher."