Jack and Beanstalk

About the Book

Similar to the English fable, Jack was harassed and beleaguered by an ogre who just happened to be the father of the woman he hoped to marry. As in Joseph Jacob’s fable, Jack’s ogre met an untimely ending in his relentless pursuit of the suitor of his daughter, who, incidentally, was nicknamed Beanstalk by her friends and acquaintances. Earl E. Somers

About the Author

Earl Eugene Somers was born in Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania, on September 28, 1927. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at age twenty-one, making the military his career of choice until he retired in 1969. During his time in the army, he met and wed Gertrud Schaefer while stationed in Germany. They birthed three sons of whom they are inordinately proud. Presently, they also have three grandsons in whom they derive a great sense of satisfaction. In 1970, as a civilian, he had a brief, unsuccessful stint as a real estate salesman. He rejoined the federal sector as a special deputy U.S. marshal and performed “shotgun” duties, flying with Pan American Airways around the world. Subsequently, he was sworn in as a U.S. customs agent. Still later, he completed his customs service as an inspector in August 1983. Aged forty-seven, he resumed his formal educational pursuit at Golden Gate University in downtown San Francisco, California, whence he earned an associate in arts degree. During 2007, he earned an online bachelor’s degree with a major in creative writing from Almeda University, Boise, Idaho. He was installed as a member of the International Society of Poets during their annual convention in Washington, D.C., from August 17 to 22, 2005. To date, in addition to writing and publishing fourteen novels including this one which will be published in 2014, he has composed twenty-two poems, all in a religious context. As a result of an out-of-body experience during a lifesaving surgery on August 20, 1983, he became a born-again Christian dedicated to observing his religious beliefs. Presently, he is a member of Grace Evangelistic Lutheran Church in San Francisco, where he is privileged to serve as a lector and an acolyte to the pastor on alternate Sundays. He is also a member and a contributor to the Gideon Society to help finance the distribution of language-translated Bibles around the world. God bless one and all. We are all children of our Father in heaven. Amen.