Vernon Turner is the author of five non-fiction books on politics and public education. Meadows and Minefields is his first novel. He wrote a weekly op-ed column for five years at the award-winning River Cities Daily Tribune in Marble Falls, TX and his columns still appear regularly in The Oklahoma Observer. In previous careers, he wrote many biological and manufacturing engineering articles for scientific and trade journals. Vernon draws on a wealth of experience as a world traveler, a scientist, an educator and an engineer in various industries. He is also a devoted researcher as all his writing reflects. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology and Chemistry from Ohio University and a Master of Science degree in Biology from San Diego State University. His teaching career spans the breadth of teaching anatomy as a graduate assistant at SDSU and as an anatomy laboratory instructor at Wright State University Medical School. Vernon's most recent teaching career centered around teaching Language Arts and all sciences in grades 6-12 in public schools in Colorado and Texas. These years included teaching AP Physics and AP Biology. He also served six years as a combat medic in the Ohio and California National Guard. Vernon's travels include the United Kingdom/Scotland, Mexico, Canada, Greenland, Uganda, Tanzania (where he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro), China, New Zealand and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.
After living in six states, Vernon has settled into a wonderful neighborhood in Denver, Colorado along with his spouse of thirty years and two lovable Maine Coon cats. He is an avid sports junky, especially involving baseball, hockey and football. He impatiently awaits the first world championship for the Colorado Rockies.
Every family has a saga that includes love, pathos, joy, disappointment, tragedy and hope. Meadows and Minefields is one such saga that encompasses the events and challenges that all “baby boomers” experienced in the 1950s and 60s. In light of today's inter-generational discussions, Bert Waller's compelling story about his generation is as rewarding to those who lived it as it is to their descendants, the alphabet generations. It includes the values, events and the social atmosphere of those times that shaped the children and grandchildren of the greatest generation, those who fought tyranny in WW II. Included is the messaging that subsequent generations draw upon, and continue to use, as our nation attempts to move forward into today's uncertain times.
Meadows and Minefields is a compelling, well-crafted, colorful, romantic, true-to-life, page-turner where every chapter has startling new events, life-changing experiences, heart-rending exasperation or unqualified joy.
When a Millennial waxes curious about Baby-Boomers, reading Meadows and Minefields will help him or her understand how America is the way it is today, and better understand the people responsible for making it so.
A Hero's Journey is the compelling second part of the Albert “Bert” Waller saga. After waving good-by to his wife, he went to Ft. Knox, Kentucky for U.S. Army basic training. Bert eventually went to Ft. Sam Houston, Texas to train as a combat medic, where the Army needed him most. The year was 1965.
In the infamous battle in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam, he was wounded twice, but saved several soldiers from dying during heavy, mortal combat. For his heroism, he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry and the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat.
Upon returning home, he became a science educator in the inner-city public schools. His military training gave him the necessary skills to handle a school shooter and protect his students.
This sweeping saga pulls no punches and provides strong, realistic insight into the actual times and experiences of an ordinary man who ended up doing many extraordinary things.