John Waite grew up in the multicultural gumbo that was New Orleans in the '50s where local mafioso stirred a pot flavored by gambling and prostitution and seasoned with political turmoil. It was and is a city of strong families, tough men and beautiful women. He went from there to Athens, Ga., where he earned a degree in journalism. Employment took him first to Texas, then to deep south Louisiana where he won numerous writing and broadcasting awards before doing a stint in the U.S. Army. He later joined the U.

S. Merchant Marine where he worked as a bridge officer on offshore service vessels for almost twenty years at ports ranging from the Gulf Coast to Norfolk, Va., San Diego, Ca., to Seattle, WA, and to Oahu in the Pacific. He has raced sailboats across the Gulf of Mexico, chased hurricanes through the Southeast, and interviewed numerous celebrities. His volume of short stories earned a commendation from Self-Publishing Review in digital format even before it became available in print. SPR also praised his thriller novel, The Grand Turk File. Both books are currently available from Amazon in digital or print formats.