Life on a Roller Coaster

From a child in turmoil to a man at peace, this emotional memoir presents the often helter-skelter life of author Ralph G. Mendoza. From the sorrowful, to the hurtful, and the unfair to the pleasurable, humorous, and enjoyable, Life on a Roller Coaster narrates Mendoza's sixty-five-year journey.

The account begins with his earliest memories growing up in an East Los Angeles ghetto, attending more than fifty schools between first grade and high school. For a time, his best friends were bookies and hoodlums. In Life on a Roller Coaster, Mendoza describes the many chapters in his life which include a stint in the United States Air Force, a long career with the Los Angeles Fire Department, and his experiences as a professional gambler in Las Vegas. He tells about the good and the bad-of his flight on Air Force One and meeting President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of State Dean Rusk and of his seventeen-year marriage and subsequent divorce.

A riveting narrative, Life on a Roller Coaster recounts Mendoza's meager beginnings in squalor to his now tranquil existence in Nevada. It's a testament of one man's determination to turn his dreams into reality.

Ralph G. Mendoza, now retired, served in the United States Air Force and worked for the Los Angeles Fire Department. He has two children and currently lives in Boulder City, Nevada. This is his debut book.