Charles Sandel
On a freezing, snowy night, I was delivered into this world by my father, Olan David Sandel, in a one room shack in Leon County, Texas. The local physician, Dr. Powell, couldn't make it to the house to do the delivery, but I was safe in the arms of my dad, an Army veteran and sharecropper. He raised cattle, hogs, horses and other animals and had helped with the deliveries of their babies any time they were having trouble. The goal was always the same--get the new born out alive and well. He did that for me that frigid, fateful night. My family moved to Houston when I was seven, and I spent all my school years on the north side of the Bayou City, graduating from Sam Houston High School in 1957. I chose Drafting School over college and completed it early, then immediately started a job with Commonwealth Services, building a pipeline in Canada. After a short stint there, I joined the US Navy, going to radio school, then boarded the aircraft Carrier USS Hancock for a tour of the Far East. After arriving at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu for shore duty, I had hours to read and fell in love with books. After my discharge, I returned to Houston and started working at Southwestern Bell, which became AT&T, from which I retired after 20 years as District Manager Business Controls. Later, I earned my license in real estate and started my own company, Charles Sandel Realty, which I own and operate to this day.
I gained inspiration from four women in my life. The first was my mother, Willie Esther Sandel, who sent me to first grade in Leona with the ability to read, write, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. She also demanded that I treat my teachers and peers with respect. Her favorite expression was “the pen is mightier than the sword.”
The second was my baby sister, Patricia Ann, who was five years younger than me, but twice as smart. The third was Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women and Little Men. The fourth was Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind. All these women perceived love as the most important and powerful positive force in the world. They helped me believe the advancement of human culture works best when people love each other. After Patricia died of colon cancer at the age of 58, I wanted to do something to memorialize her strong desire to strive to always do the right thing. The memory of my sister's personality inspired the title character in my novel. I hope the story does justice to Patricia's keen spirit and motivates my grandchildren to work to achieve the highest goals. As part of the effort to honor her, I pledge to donate 5% of the net income from the sale of this book to the American Cancer Society. My nephew, Kevin Cochran, Patricia’s only child, helped me finish the final chapter of the story upstairs in my home in Katy, Texas, while Hurricane Harvey flooded the rooms downstairs. On that night, the water wasn't the only thing rising. Samantha was rising. May she continue her ascent as long as her story of strength and perseverance inspires the people who read it.
