Frank ""Pancho"" Gonzales, a native Californian, resides in La Palma, CA. He holds a BA in Philosophy from St John's Seminary College, Camarillo, CA, and a MBA from the University of Redlands in Redlands, CA. In his career as a Staff Manager, and later Distribution Manager, at Farmers Insurance, he was often told he had a talent for describing situations that made the reader feel physically present watching events as they unfolded. Later, as the editor of his U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla newsletter, he won a national award for his work.