Once a Hobo.: The Autobiography of Monte Holm

In 1930, during the Depression, a 13-year-old boy was forced from his home and became a hobo. The entire country was in dire straits. There was no work, no money, and very little food. Many people hit the road to find employment of any kind - but few were as young as Monte Holm. These young people joined an army of young men and women - common folk as well as, skilled tradesmen, engineers, lawyers, bankers - that rode the rails, traveling from state to state, seeking work. Hunger and danger were their constant companions. This yongster became a man at a very tender age.

Dennis Clay and Monte Holm have collaborated to produce this intriguing story of one man's struggle to attain a victorious life.

Dennis L. Clay was born and raised in the heart of Washington State's Columbia Basin.

Shortly after high school, he joined the Army as a private and was selected to attend Officer's Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Dennis then attended helicopter flight school. He served one year in Vietnam where he attained the rank of Captain and flew the UHI Iroquois (better known as the HUEY), the OH6A Cayause (also known as the LOH), and the U6A Beaver (a fixed wing airplane) and other aircraft for the 9th Aviation Battalion of the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta. During his Vietnam tour, he was awarded the Bronze Star medal, 17 Air Medals and others.

After his Army career, Dennis returned to live and work in his hometown of Moses Lake. He has been employed by the Washington State Employment Security Department for about 24 years. His writing career began when he submitted a story to the Columbia Basin Herald in 1982. It was published and his writing career has not slowed since.

Dennis is a freelance writer, photographer, columnist and broadcaster. His credits include stories published in Alaska Outdoors, Wild Sheep Magazine, British Columbia Sports Fishing, Ted Nugent Adventure Outdoors, The Outdoor Press, Boys' Life, Fishing and Hunting News and others.

He writes three weekly columns for the Columbia Basin Herald and he contributes photographs and stories for other features and articles that appear in the Moses Lake newspaper.

Dennis is the host and producer of Columbia Basin Outdoors, broadcast every Thursday and Friday on KBSN-AM 1470. He is co-host of Columbia Basin Lifestyles, a one-hour live talk show aired Saturday mornings, also on KBSN.

Dennis is an avid outdoorsman where he enjoys birding, big game and bird hunting, fly and spin fishing, camping and many other outdoor activities.

His writings and photographs have earned Dennis numerous awards. His first national award was for a short story, "The Time Has Come, and Will Again," published in the Columbia Basin Herald's 1991 Progress Edition. It placed first in the National Hunting & Fishing Day contest that year,

Dennis has several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists of both the Inland Northwest and the Pacific Northwest chapters. Dennis and Rock n' Roll legend and hunter Ted Nugent teamed up to place third in one SPJ Sports Reporting contest about hunting ethics.

Dennis is a member of the Outdoor Writers' Association of America and the Northwest Outdoor Writers' Association. He serves as an elected member of the NOWA Board of Directors.

Dennis is a graduate of the Washington State University Master Gardener program serving Grant and Adams Counties and the Master Composter program in Spokane, Washington.