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Red Diaper Baby in USS Bowfin: An Autobiography of J. Marx Ayres - Volume 1: 1922-1945

by J. Marx Ayres

276 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-1120; ISBN 1-4251-3074-7; US$20.00, C$20.00, EUR13.66, £10.33

This book traces the life of James Marx Ayres, from growing up in Los Angeles and surviving the Great Economic Depression to serving in the Navy during World War II.

About the Book

This is the story of James Marx Ayres. His father was a Presbyterian minister who left the church and became a communist party organizer. His mother was a famous sculptor and supported the family of six with her artwork. Marx was raised in Inglewood, California, during the great Economic Depression of the 1930s. He was a student at the University of California Berkeley when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He joined the navy, and with additional training, became a Commissioned Officer, joined the Submarine Service, and was assigned to the USS Bowfin (SS287). While in the Navy, Marx served on War Patrols 8 and 9 in the Sea of Japan, where the boat penetrated mine fields, was depth charged, and survived dangerously close gunfire.

About the Author

James Marx Ayres is a retired Consulting Mechanical Engineer with over fifty years of experience in the design, analysis and construction of industrial mechanical service systems for all types of buildings and industrial facilities. Mr. Ayres is a yoga enthusiast, and lives in Santa Monica, California with Fran Ayres, his long-term (unmarried) partner since 1985.