John Browne

I'm the author so far of two history books. One recounts the evolution of a colonial plantation whose geography is a major chunk of the Washington, DC, suburbs. The second tells of the family who founded a nearby town in 1798. The town was important in its time, is not so today, but is a model of historic preservation. These histories coincide in time and place with the seating and growth of the federal government in the District of Columbia. They are primarily about ordinary people. Yet many of those people rubbed shoulders with America's early leaders and Founding Fathers. They met in society, business, and politics, and were touched by many of the same events.

As a kid I thought I might become a writer. College, Navy service, marriage and family, and a 30-year career pushed things back. After retiring, I freelanced, writing primarily about telecommunications. I volunteered for a year with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. There I was tutored in website development and had a hand in making the museum's first dinosaur website in 1997.

My interest in computers, maps and local history brought the opportunity to chair the maps and website committee of Fairfax County, Virginia's, "A Look Back At Braddock" history project. We published a book and a website. Research I started there grew into my own website, "The Story of Ravensworth," and my first book of the same name.

My second book developed in similar manner. I volunteer with the Buckland Preservation Society. which strives to preserve about a dozen remaining historic properties and the history of Buckland, established in 1798 in Prince William County, Virginia. In helping to create a small museum and update the society's website, there was extensive documentation about Buckland but little about the Love family who created it. My research found records of their notable contributions both locally and to the nation. Thus, this second book's title, "Helping Build America: The Love Family of Buckland, Virginia."

What's next? I tend to focus on things close to my Northern Virginia home. One tenet of writing is "write what you know." In my case knowing often reveals how little I actually know, which inspires more research. I'm most happy when researching, writing, and sharing with others what I've learned.