Fabien Couteaud

Born and raised in France, Fabien soon journeys to Spain, Andorra, Sardinia, Yougoslavia (red) and even to Romania, behind the “iron Curtain” for holidays. Ask him how he feels about Romanian soldiers apprehending him with the threat of AK47 submachine gun barrels. He is 13, but somehow does not let them rob him of his treasured boat… and talks (gestures) his way back to freedom!

As a teenager, he ventures on his own to Germany (to improve his German), England (where he studies and works), and Spain: as he spends his weekends and holidays working as a Cliff and Mountain Climbing Instructor. He builds experience in the hopes of becoming a “High Mountain Guide” (Guide de Haute Montagne in French.) Changing focus at eighteen, Fabien proceeds to the United States where he perfects his flying skills (Pro Pilot) and works in various fields, from construction to (much later) “jet set” pilot.

But before that, he returns to France for a brief stint (of several years…)

His mid twenties find him a happy factory worker in the Emilia Romagna region of beautiful Italia, which he calls “heaven on earth.”

Uncannily, at the age of 26, for reasons that reason does not know (neither does the US Homeland Security/Immigration, read “Proving Hardship” by Walker Leigh,) he settles in Tennessee where he starts a numerous family with wife Cheryl, also a writer (the “Gifted by Design” series, …)

A third generation airplane pilot, his predecessors flew and fought in three wars. Fabien is Airline Transport Pilot rated. He owned a flight school for five years and has traveled the world as a business jet pilot.

Nevertheless, he finds more satisfaction in the precise execution of a loop or a roll, the graduation success of a flight student (he instructs) or the completion of a lively book chapter (aviation history, mechanical arts, historical fiction and novels.) His definition of art is a smooth landing in a 1941 Luscombe taildragger at his friend Harry’s grass airport.