Steve Coonts and It's a Small ADTA World

Hey ADTA,

Greetings from Naples, Florida, with more stuff about ADTA Greenbrier. 

Our speaker Saturday morning at the Greenbrier will be West Virginia native Stephen Coonts, author of The Flight of the Intruder, which he published in 1986, and followed with ten more books about war hero Jake Grafton, tracing his career from a young Navy attack pilot flying A-6s during the Vietnam War (Flight of the Intruder) to two-star admiral working with the CIA (Liberty).  The latest in the Jake Grafton series is Pirate Alley.  Steve has published a bunch of other great books (the majority of which I have read), which you can review on his website, here.

The Flight of the Intruder spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and a movie based on the novel, starring Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe and Brad Johnson was released in January 1991.

Steve grew up in  grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, and attended West Virginia University, where he majored in political science and graduated in 1968. Upon graduation, he joined the Navy, was commissioned as an Ensign and began flight training in Pensacola, Florida.  He received his Navy wings in August, 1969. He made two combat cruises aboard USS Enterprise as an A-6 Intruder pilot during the final years of the Vietnam War. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz. He left active duty in 1977 and moved to Colorado. After short stints as a taxi driver and police officer, he entered the University of Colorado School of Law in the fall of 1977.

Steve declined payment for speaking to us, instead asking that we make a donation to The Intruder Scholarship Fund, which is a charity made up of old A-6 Intruder pilots that awards scholarships to the sons and daughters of servicemen and women.  Steve is war hero and a great West Virginian, and someone who will be right at home with the ADTA.  He’ll be spending some time with us in addition to his talk on Saturday morning.

A quick Small ADTA World Story: Julia and I are at the Spring meeting of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and someone yells “Hey Tom.”  I turn to see Tom Burke and as we are chatting, Bruce Keplinger walks by.  Both are headed for the Greenbrier (although Keplinger has a pesky trial that week….)  The ADTA Nation is everywhere.

See you at the Greenbrier, ADTA.