User:5280feet

The 82 year-old writer known as 5280feet is a veteran educator, having served as a high school principal for 25 years and a Spanish teacher for nine years. He received his doctorate in education from the University of California at Berkeley. Having retired in 2007 he began to pursue a career as a novelist of digital books. He presently has 18 books for sale. These are mostly action-adventure stories. He spent nearly five years as a missionary in Latin America and Portugual. His teaching major was Spanish. This background permits him to write novels situated in Latin America with a great deal of credibility. He was raised in Burbank, California, home of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and many film studios. He has vivid memories of World War II when in the dark of the night Lockheed fighter planes, P-38s to be specific, were moved from the manufacturing plants to the airport to be flown out the next day. When he and a friend walked up into the foothills to go rabbit hunting, they could at first see the Lockheed plants, but gradually as they ascended in altitude the camoflauge over the manufacturing plants dominated the view. Now all they could see was farm lands with some animals and farm structures. On the corner of his home street, a group of soldiers lived in tunnels and manned an anti-aircraft gun should it be needed. Fortunately, it never was. Music dominated 5280feet's school life. He played the clarinet and saxophone, having studied with the solo clarinetist of one of the major film studios for many years. After high school graduation, he joined the US Navy as a musician. Big band music was his first interest in music and in the Navy with other serious musicians he played the lead alto saxophone with three other saxes behind him. He continued to play in big bands during his college days earning money for college expenses. 5280feet (talk) 23:36, 20 January 2014 (UTC)