FRANK THAYER

Frank is the oldest member of our club at 89! He grew up in Pasadena, California.

Out of high-school he went straight into the Air Force. This was in 1944, during WWII. He trained as a pilot and was stationed in England. He flew 17 missions.

One of his worst experiences was losing 3 engines over Berlin! He was the co-pilot but took over piloting when the pilot couldn’t control the plane. He managed to fly from Berlin, across Germany and landed in Holland, all on one engine.

After that feat of piloting he was given his own crew. After the war he became a carpenter, then a licensed contractor and eventually had his own house building company.

He lived in Pasadena and later moved to Costa Mesa. Frank took up tennis after he couldn’t see the golf balls to well. He was 75. He has 5 children, all living in Orange County.

Beside tennis , Frank is very interested in astronomy.

Gary was born in Park Rapids, Minnesota, growing up on his grandparent’s lake resort and and writing poems and short stories early on.

Many strange and unique experiences happened to him at that lake resort which formed the basis for his current published YA mystery series.

He graduated from a high school in Mpls., served in the US Navy and moved out west and graduated from Brigham Young U. in Utah with a degree in Social Science.

With no formal training in writing or music and just a love for story telling, he continues to write books, short stories and songs today.

He has played tennis since high school and loves the sport and especially enjoys playing with the Tustin Tennis Club.

His wife is from Lima, Peru and she is bi-lingual, they manage apartments in Brea and and between the two of them, have six children and eleven grandchildren.

His third book, Pickerel Lake 2 was just published and you can check it out on his web site at: Author Gary