From a child in turmoil to a man at peace, this emotional memoir presents the often helter-skelter life of author Ralph G. Mendoza. From the sorrowful, to the hurtful, and the unfair to the pleasurable, humorous, and enjoyable, "Life on a Roller Coaster" narrates Mendoza's sixty-five-year journey. The account begins with his earliest memories growing up in an East Los Angeles ghetto, attending more than fifty schools between first grade and high school. For a time, his best friends were bookies and hoodlums. In "Life on a Roller Coaster," Mendoza describes the many chapters in his life which include a stint in the United States Air Force, a long career with the Los Angeles Fire Department, and his experiences as a professional gambler in Las Vegas. He tells about the good and the bad-of his flight on Air Force One and meeting President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of State Dean Rusk and of his seventeen-year marriage and subsequent divorce.
A riveting narrative, "Life on a Roller Coaster" recounts Mendoza's meager beginnings in squalor to his now tranquil existence in Nevada. It's a testament of one man's determination to turn his dreams into reality.