Author Bio

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#99CC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="08a8dfc3.jpg"> <div> <B>Not all marriages end in divorce. Some last forever!</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="091a0ef0.png" border=0 width="160" height="239" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ALT="bookworldinfo.com. Robert A. Gallinger"></B></div> <div> <B>July 1953:Marriage to Renate, my partner for life,  in Heidelberg, Germany</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="093a06d0.png" border=0 width="160" height="109" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ALT="bookworldinfo.com. Robert A. Gallinger"></B></div> <div> <B>July 2003: Two-horse carriage on way to church to renew vows after fifty years of marriage</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="095a06d0.png" border=0 width="160" height="109" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ALT="bookworldinfo.com. Robert A. Gallinger"></B></div> <div> <B>July 2003: carriage ride after marriage ceremony, heading to reception</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="09ba06f0.png" border=0 width="160" height="111" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ALT="bookworldinfo.com. Robert A. Gallinger"></B></div> <div> <B>July 2003: renew vows with Renate in same church where we were married in July 1953.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 style=" border-bottom: 1px solid #999980;" BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="08b8dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <B>Order mystery books, detective stories and suspense novels</B><B>   </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#003300" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>  |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="home "><B>home</B></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map">Site Map</A>   |   <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Info">Contact Info</A>   |   <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Synopses">Synopses</A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="No Time to Die">No Time to Die</A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Suffer the Fool">Suffer the Fool</A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Deadly Encounters">Deadly Encounters</A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Crooked Path">A Crooked Path</A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dead Light">Dead Light</A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Debt of Honor">Debt of Honor</A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whispers">Whispers</A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Escape">Escape</A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Taken by Force">Taken by Force</A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Order Info"> Order Info</A>   |   <B>Author Bio</B>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links">Links</A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reviews ">Reviews </A><A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter Excerpts">Chapter Excerpts</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=398 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="08b8dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I>Author Bio</I></div> <div> <I>This www.bookworldinfo.com page provides a short author biography for novelist Robert A. Gallinger.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I> </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >Author Biography:</FONT></div> <div> During the early years of the great depression, Robert A. Gallinger faced life for the first time in a hospital in Syracuse, New York. It was January 23, 1932, a bitter cold day that he does not recall, but has been told about repeatedly since his birth. And why not? He was almost killed that day.</div> <div> An anxious doctor told Robert's father that the baby or the mother, or both, could die. But there were options: remove Robert's arm and/or his head, and that would almost certainly save the mother's life. </div> <div> "Can you guarantee that my wife will live if you take such drastic action?" the father asked.</div> <div> "There are no such guarantees in my profession," the doctor replied. "But we have to act quickly if either of them is to survive."</div> <div> Before the final decision could be made, luck or fate or faith interceded, and Robert came screaming into the world with his head and arms intact. </div> <div> Both the mother and he survived the ordeal, which was but one of many traumatic experiences he had to face in his life, but, according to him, "there were plenty of good times, too."</div> <div> Robert was never interested in school during the early years, so ended up failing repeatedly. </div> <div> Eventually, he found himself in the eighth grade at the age of sixteen. He was wild in his youth, but not violent. And he liked to play soldier a lot, too. </div> <div> He'd "scout" the thick woods near his home in Marcellus, New York where he lived with his parents, his three older sisters, and two older brothers until he did go into the Army later. He was the youngest, and the last to be born into the family.</div> <div> It was hard during his youth, but, he says, "I never remember being hungry or recall ever having the urge to steal, even though I did experience periods of envy over the years, especially whenever I saw other kids more fortunate than me with fancy toys and clothing that did not have any holes in them. </div> <div> But envy was the least of my worries during my youth. My main goal was to survive in a world that seemed indifferent to people like my family, who had no money or property, not much at all. </div> <div> Later, I learned that there were a lot more things in life than money and property. And that's when I grew up, no longer envious of the good fortune of others."</div> <div> To make a few dollars, Robert worked during school vacations for Onondaga County, cutting grass and tarring roads. He even had a paper route. But he soon learned that delivering papers was not a good way to make money. </div> <div> He recalls that sometimes at the end of the month when he had to pay the company for the papers he'd collected for, he could hardly afford two ice cream cones. Not a profitable way to success, but he did learn a lot about people on the route. The young ones and the old. </div> <div> "Some were <I>different </I>and some were <I>difficult," </I>he says, "but that's what life and writing are all about, too: the different and difficult parts."</div> <div> Other times, he worked on the farms between Marcellus and Syracuse, getting up and going to bed in the dark, helping with the milking chores and removing manure from the barns. </div> <div> Being a farmhand was not easy labor or much more profitable than a paper route, but it helped strengthen his body and his resolve to do something more before he died. </div> <div> He learned humility in those early days of poverty, too, and it never left him, the same as his quick smile even during the worst of times.</div> <div> Robert never thought much about writing in his youth. He was too busy surviving, or dreaming of the day he could become a soldier. </div> <div> By 1942, when his oldest brother enlisted in the Army to be a paratrooper, Robert was only ten years old. But he wanted to go into the Army so badly he could taste it. </div> <div> And later, when his next older brother enlisted in the Army in 1947, he wanted to go in then, too. In peace or war, he felt that he belonged in the Army, so one day decided to give it a try. </div> <div> He ran away from home to join up, using a "doctored" birth certificate that could not conceal his youthful face. </div> <div> He was caught, severely lectured by the officer at the recruitment station, and then returned home, but the urge never left him. </div> <div> Frustrated more than angry, his parents allowed him to quit school, still in the eighth grade at the age of sixteen.</div> <div> He went to work in the local woolen mill in Marcellus, where his father and his father before him worked their entire lives. </div> <div> With a limited education, It looked like Robert faced the same fate. Still, he was getting older each day, and the day he'd been waiting for finally arrived. </div> <div> His parents signed his enlistment papers and he joined the Army two days after his seventeenth birthday. </div> <div> It was the happiest day of his life, he recalls, except, he says, "that day I met and married Renate, my wife for life, and later had three wonderful daughters along the way."</div> <div> After basic training at Camp Pickett, Virginia, Robert suddenly became interested in reading and writing. </div> <div> According to him, it had something to do with the others he trained with in the Army. Most had a lot more education than him, and seemed to know more things than he'd ever heard about in his life. </div> <div> He thought it was time to move up the education ladder, so he went for it.</div> <div> He was transferred to the signal school at Camp Gordon, Georgia after basic, and began to take night school classes to prepare for a high school General Educational Development (GED) test. </div> <div> It was a start, but it was six years later in 1955 before he finally got around to taking the test. He passed it, and New York awarded him the diploma without fanfare. </div> <div> If nothing more, he was persistent, albeit a little slow in those days. But then again, he had military duties to contend with that many times required twelve-or-more-hour days.</div> <div>  After signal school, he was transferred to Germany the latter part of 1949. Over there, he served as a communications center specialist, which involved a lot of shift work. </div> <div> That had its advantages. He could do more off-duty schoolwork, and he somehow met Renate.</div> <div> They married before he was much past twenty-one and they left for the states in 1953 with one daughter, Sherri. </div> <div> Through a fluke in orders, they were stationed at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, where Coleen, his second daughter, was born in 1954. </div> <div> After a short tour in Washington, DC, they had to pack up and relocate to Eritrea on Army orders in 1954. That was the year they really moved a lot. </div> <div> After another tour in Washington, DC, they were shipped to Paris, France in 1956, where Cathy, their youngest daughter was born in 1958. </div> <div> It was not an easy life, keeping up with pressing Army reallocations and duties, family responsibilities and obligations, and finally pursuing courses toward a degree. </div> <div> "But," he says, "there was always love in the house, and Renate handled many family matters for me that took a considerable burden from my shoulders. </div> <div> "She did that a lot in those days and later, still does now." His love for Renate is obvious even after over fifty years of marriage.</div> <div> Things began to look better by 1962. Robert had accumulated over three years of college credits in Business Administration from the University of Maryland's global night school programs. </div> <div> He progressed from sergeant to warrant officer, taking on added responsibilities as the officer-in-charge of a communications center in Alaska. </div> <div> He continued night school with the University of Alaska, until he finally earned a bachelor's degree in Business Management in 1963. </div> <div> A year later, he received a direct commission to first lieutenant. Things were looking up, until he received orders in 1965. </div> <div> He had to leave his family in the states while he went to Vietnam for a one-year tour as a duty officer in a major communications relay station outside of Saigon.</div> <div> By 1969, after a three-year tour in Germany, he was back to Vietnam, now a major, serving as the executive officer of a strategic communications battalion. </div> <div> Like most who served there in various jobs and capacities, he still has flashes of incidents and events, both good and bad. </div> <div> He recalls one amusing part of the tour over there, though, that included a more diligent effort at writing. </div> <div> "I tried writing short stories, which I promptly mailed off to various publishers, who just as promptly returned them with curt rejections attached. </div> <div> I tacked them to the walls of the small battalion dayroom to give the troops a laugh at some of the <I>critical</I> comments contained in them. </div> <div> "They enjoyed the notes as much as I did. But I kept writing despite the rejections, eventually getting the bug to write the longer stuff, the novels, which I've worked at ever since."</div> <div> Retired from the Army in 1974, Robert went to work for the National Security Agency, and then for the Army as a civil servant. </div> <div> As a civilian, he went on to earn a master's degree in Telecommunications Operations Management in 1977 and a second master's in Public Administration in 1979 from the George Washington University in DC.</div> <div>  Later, in 1984, he had to pack up for Germany with Renate, where he served in a joint headquarters as a communications management specialist. </div> <div> By then, his daughters were grown with their own families, which to date include five healthy grandsons, three beautiful granddaughters, and three great grandsons.</div> <div> He loves to reminisce about his military life. </div> <div> "The life of a soldier is not an easy one," he says, "but neither is the life of an Army wife or the children born into it. </div> <div> "There are many separations, many fears and tears, many times of hardship and sorrow. </div> <div> "But there is great happiness, too, and the good times. And that made all the difference in the world."</div> <div> Now retired a little and writing a lot, Robert resides with Renate in Mobile, Alabama. </div> <div> To Date, he has published nine suspense novels that include <I>No Time to Die, Suffer the Fool, Deadly Encounters, A Crooked Path, Dead Light, A Debt of Honor, Whispers, Escape </I>and <I>Taken by Force. </I></div> <div> He is currently working on other drafts in his spare time. </div> <div> Before he is finished, he hopes to write fictionalized accounts of more of the places he has seen and some of the events he has witnessed, but says his characters will remain totally fictional, becoming bits and pieces of many others, to avoid any resemblance to real persons, living or deceased.</div> <div> Sometimes, someone asks him how he comes up with his writing ideas. </div> <div> He tells them that he may see someone on the street, read an article or book, see something on TV, or something hits him in the head from nowhere, and he writes a draft from the images in his brain. </div> <div> "Writing is hard work," he says, "but it's a heck of a lot of fun to twist plots and bring characters to life, trying to make up something that's worth reading, something that will make readers laugh or cry, make them angry, maybe happy, entertain them. </div> <div> "And that, to me, is what fiction writing is all about: the entertainment part that is filled with honest emotion whatever it might be."</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >To learn more about my background and writings, please visit web site: </FONT><A HREF="http://www.booksandauthors.net/Interviews/RAGallinger.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.booksandauthors.net/Interview">BooksandAuthors</A>.</div> <bR> <div> Copyright 2001 (c) by Robert A. Gallinger</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id40_m.htm" TITLE="Author Bio"><U>Back to Top</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="home "><U>Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Info"><U>Contact Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Synopses"><U>Synopses</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter Excerpts"><U>Chapter Excerpts</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Order Info"><U>Order Info</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><U>Site Map</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reviews "><U>Reviews </U></A></div> <bR> <div> <U> <html> <head> http://www.bookworldinfo.com/author_bio.htm <title> Book World Info -- Provides biography for Robert A. 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