H. Edward Schmidt

http://hedwardschmidt.com/

"I spent most of my life working for the Federal Government. I served in the US Army in Germany, in the Peace Corps in Washington and Ethiopia and later as a member of the Congressional Research Service in Washington.

“In Germany in the 1950’s, it was the height of the Cold War with the USSR. We spent our off hours in beer halls and had time to see Paris, Rome, London and Brussels. Free room and board and MATS flights, you could do a lot with $130 a month. The rest of the time staying busy, firing ranges, maneuvers, spit and polishing our boots and brassoeing our belt buckles. We never saw any Russians.

"Headquarters for the Peace Corps was on Lafayette Square, across from the White House. It was a beautiful Fall day. When I returned from lunch, the Peace Corps Medical Director called me into his office. Joe Gallagher, a great guy. I remember his face was very white. His voice a whisper he said ‘The President has been shot.’ Remember that the Peace Corps was very important to President Kennedy and his brother in law, Sarge Shriver ran it for him. So many of the idealists that worked to make Kennedy president worked for the Peace Corps. The whole building was in shock as was the whole world.

"In Ethiopia in the 60’s, like all over the world, revolution was in the air and students were in the streets. Less than a decade later, the dynasty that began with the birth of Menelik, the love child of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was gone. Emperor Haile Selassie, King of Kings, the Lion of Judah, was dead. Being there led me to write The Black Lion and the Crocodile.

I like to write and I like to write historical fiction which allows me freedom to insert my characters and stories with a backdrop of great world events. Then other genre's interest me. The world of drugs and violence in 95 and of children and talking animals in Rescue on Blue Mountain take me to other worlds.