Save the Tomatoes for Packy: A Novel

Living in the present isn’t easy for Vietnam veteran, Paul Fogarty, especially when the past doesn’t want to die. On his way to Cattaraugus, New York, the hometown of his late ex-girlfriend, to tie up some loose ends, Paul encounters the memories that he couldn’t suppress, no matter how much booze he had back in the day. Along the way, Paul remembers his best friends in the Army—Bobby Ray, a southern enlistee with a profane vernacular and Posie, a quiet, devout Christian from Northern Michigan—and Kathy, the intellectual English teacher he was too afraid to love. Will these memories influence his present course?

Dan is from Albany, New York. He's had a varied career path including serving for thirty-three years on the Albany Fire Department, retiring as a Captain/Paramedic. Dan served in the US Army and Army Reserve for fourteen-years. He is currently a Warrant Officer in the South Carolina State Guard, and has been a full-time faculty member at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, as well as Lead Instructor at State University of New York at Cobleskill in their respective paramedic programs. From 2010 to 2011 Dan served as a paramedic for the Saudi Red Crescent Authority in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is an avid runner and has completed over 100 marathons and ultra-marathons. This is his first novel. He now resides near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with his wife.