I have three brothers and a sister. I was the third of three boys close in age. My sister is four years younger than I am, and I have a brother who is nine years younger. We've always been close. I think all the moving drew us together. We had the feeling that our family was always on a big adventure. It was pretty intense sometimes with five kids in the station wagon!

Tell us about your parents.

My father was from Florida, and loved baseball, gardening, and fishing. When our fishing line would go haywire, he would undo the kinks instead of cutting the line. Maybe I learned the patience that it takes to write books from him. My mother grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned Eagle when Girl Scouts still had that rank, and met the President's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, at an international Jamboree. My adventurous outlook is like my mom's. She rafted the Grand Canyon when she was 73, on a motorized raft.

Are you married?

Yes. Jean and I were married in 1972. There's a photo of the two of us on this page. For many years both of us were teachers. We loved working with kids. In the summers we were able to do a lot of hiking and rafting. She's gone on almost all of my outdoor adventures with me, and was the instigator of our solo trip down the Grand Canyon!

Do you have kids?

No, but kids have always been a big part of our lives. As I mentioned earlier, Jean and I were both teachers, plus we have eleven nieces and nephews. We've done lots of hikes and river trips with them. And yes, they've given me a lot of story ideas!