The Axis of Madness

I was Born July 7, 1944 at St. Josephs Hospital in Vancouver Washington, and raised in Camas, a small paper mill town east of Vancouver. I Was the third of nine children, four boys followed by five girls. I did poorly in school, had few friends, and spent most of my time reading science fiction books. After reading a story I wrote for English class, my teacher encouraged me to become a writer, but I was more interested in figuring out how things worked, than doing anything academic. I built two computers in high school for the science fair, and almost made it to the nationals my senior year. I graduated in 1963 with one of the lowest GPAs, despite high scores on the SAT test. I went to Clark Collage for four years, and spent more time playing chess, building cars and motor cycles, than studying. Fortunately I was rejected for the draft, and missed getting killed or injured in Vietnam like some of my friends.