EDWARD LARSON has been an adventurer most of his life. Although he grew up in Seattle, he spent his summers on Alaska towboats transporting salmon from the fishing banks to canneries spread throughout Southeast Alaska. At the age of 17, with America entering WWII, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps. While serving overseas, he flew C-109 and C-87 aircraft before falling in love with the purr of the C-46’s twin R-2800 engines. Following the war, Larson returned to Southeast Alaska, once again working the fishing boats. In 1954, he re-entered college and earned a master’s degree, which led to a thirty-year career in education. Along with his itch for adventure, Larson’s passion for writing and illustrating crystalized as a young boy. Now, at the age of 96, he has amassed a considerable body of critically acclaimed work—writing and illustrations that have appeared in literary journals, magazines, and other publications. He has authored six books. This is his first commemorative.