A.N. Caird

Andrew N. Caird was born in Chicago, Ill near the end of WW2 of Italian and German parents. Considered creative by family and friends, Andrew's writing ability was first "discovered" by his fifth-grade teacher who suggested he submit a slogan for a "beautification" campaign run by the Chicago School System. Andrew won in the grammar school category. "Clean Up! Paint Up! Light Up! Make Chicago Gleam!" Chicago was host to an International Trade Fair at Navy Pier in the late '50s and, on one special occasion, US Marines were operating a tank at the entrance. Observing Andrew's wide-eyed stare, the Marines lifted him onto the tank and let him swivel the machine gun right and left.

From that moment, Andrew knew he wanted to be a Marine. He continued to write short stories and sports pieces for his high school paper. It was as a Marine in Vietnam that Andrew found a new outlet for his muse...poetry. He wrote to the girls at home long, gushy and, sometimes, sentimental pieces. "The rain out here...It's mighty clear...Has mischief on its mind...Keep me drenching wet...Dilute my beer...And keep me in a bind!" For the next twenty years, Andrew served at US Embassy posts, with the foreign military, and at Joint Combatant Commands. His wife of twenty-some years succumbed to the ravages of cancer at the young age of fifty-two. His children, a Marine son, and a beautiful daughter have their own families and often visit Andrew at his farm in rural Virginia. For constant companionship, Andrew has two cats, a Guinea hen, Raider the Australian Cattle Dog and, most close of all God.