Lawman's Dilemma

Ray Bilderback, creator of the Reuben Braddock novels, was born (1932) and raised in the Sierra foothills of California. He served in the US Navy Seabees during the Korean War and taught for many years in the West. He makes his home in the mountains of Eastern Washington with his archeologist wife, Madilane Perry, and Shadow (their small brown dog). "In the 1930s and 1940s, where I lived, many of the farms and cattle operations were small and much like they were at the turn of the century. We still used horses and hand tools, canned and preserved what we grew or raised, lit our kerosene lanterns, stoked our woodstoves. Many homes were still without telephones or electricity. "I owe much to the brave assortment of aunts, uncles, and grandparents who took me in and taught me their ways, and I owe much as well to those I worked with in hayfields, gardens, orchards, woodlots, and logging shows. "In my writing, I draw from those times like water from a sweet well.