John Spietz

Looking back, I feel life began for me when I left urban America and moved to Juneau, Alaska, in 1971. I lived there for fifteen years of thrills and spills. My friends were commercial fishermen and tradesmen while I stayed on a boat in the harbor (frozen in winter ice). Life in Juneau before the pipeline was a great place to be young. My life threaded the space between the Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers and Abbie Hoffman. I sold marijuana and got busted. I beat the wrap and held many jobs: Housing Director for the City and Borough of Juneau, Cartographer for the State of Alaska, Construction Manager for the Tlingit & Haida Regional Housing Authority, Partner in a two-man Architectural firm, and a real estate development enterprise, among others. My partner and I lost 2-1/4 million dollars in the oil bust in the ’80s.

I married a professor of English Literature and had one child. We homeschooled in Alaska, then moved to Connecticut to put our son in a private school for gifted children. He now has a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Yale. I managed law office build-outs (100+ attorneys) in Connecticut and single-family subdivision construction.

A downturn in the economy in the early ‘90s caused me to move to Seattle and become divorced. After that, I managed commercial, multifamily, and native housing construction projects in the northwest. Finally, I accepted a position as Technical Inspector for a construction management firm doing military commissaries. I eventually became the Senior Project Manager for this company and moved to San Antonio. I’ve managed construction projects in 22 states worth about $300 million.

I retired in 2016. Like many retirees, I cast around for something to do to remain relevant. After trying this and that, I resolved to write. Thrill Chase, my first novel, is about an Alaska commercial fisherman who has just returned to Sitka from crabbing in the Bering Sea. It combines my lifelong interest in history, the sea, and that next big thrill.

I met my second wife in San Antonio, a retired psychotherapist and a family counselor. We live on the 22nd floor of a high-rise tower. I write almost every day at my favorite spot, Local Coffee at The Pearl. I am currently working on a sequel to Thrill Chase called Siren Song.