Rascal (Paperback)

Rascal is a young adult novel about life in 1850. The book is classified as historical fiction and as a Western. There is action within the story, but the central theme is about life in three different areas of the country during the time frame.

Wareham, Massachusetts, a young British immigrant begins his life in America. He purchases Rascal on his way to the farm, where he will work for a year.

Travel from Wareham to New York City, then by train to Chicago, then by wagon train to Minneapolis in the Wisconsin Territory. It was in the Minnesota Territory upon arrival.

Anoka, Minnesota, a small village on the Rum River, is the destination for a new farm.

Circumstances led to a several-year venture into the west, north of the badlands, to hunt beaver, an industry in decline at that time.

With a return to Anoka under different circumstances.

Ross holds a BS and MS in Mathematics and began his career as a Math Teacher and shifted to the reinsurance field, where, as an underwriter, he analyzed proposals of treaty reinsurance, assessed risk, set and negotiated rates, wrote contract terms, and participated as a leader within the industry as a member of the Actuarial Committee of the national association. His last position was COO of a reinsurance company. As a consultant, he audited contracts, served as an expert witness, and was an arbitrator in insurance carrier disputes. Additionally, he was a founding member of a group attempting to launch a new reinsurance company in Bermuda.

Ross started writing as an outcome of analysis in the reinsurance industry, where he saw developing trends and chose to report them to his peers. He also wrote contract language for reinsurance treaties, which he designed, priced, and negotiated with reinsurers. Ross was chairman of the first actuarial study of damage from hurricanes, tornados, floods, and earthquakes in the USA and wrote and presented the results at a national convention. He wrote more than two dozen articles published in industry periodicals regarding trends within the industry, including two five-year retrospective reviews of the industry's performance. Ross launched a series of articles regarding measures of financial performance in the industry. Leadership at this stage motivated him to author a professional book published by John Wiley & Sons entitled "Reinsurance Fundamentals." He began to write fiction after retirement, progressing to several novels and short stories.