I Never Saw My Father Smile

Born to a religious extremist and denied an education, a young man, Clem, endures life in a desperately unhappy situation until he is drafted for the military. He finds himself in a whole new world of which he is totally ignorant. He is shipped out to fight in Korea. He is wounded and sent to San Francisco to recover. There he meets Patsy and discovers what love is. He takes her to live on the farm. While Clem is away, his father rapes his son's wife. She runs from the farm and yells at Clem as she passes him on the road. Because of his war wound he cannot stop her and she vanishes before he can turn his truck around.

In a fit of uncontrolled rage he murders his father. He gives himself up to the sheriff and is sentenced to twenty-five years. He received a governor's pardon after ten. He reconnects with Patsy only to find that his father had made her pregnant and she now has a nine years old son. He cannot handle the stress and becomes mentally unbalanced. He murders the boy believing he is the reincarnation of his father. He also believes Patsy has become possessed with his father's spirit so he kills her. In his unbalanced state he kills twice more before being caught, still believing he has done a good thing.

Alan's interest in writing began at age seven when his teacher praised a five-page composition on his summer adventures.

During his working years he gained insight into many different levels of society from Vancouver's sleazy Eastside, to boardrooms. Alan continued to write. He became west coast correspondent for his national company's quarterly magazine winning three awards for his contributions. Plus an award for adult fiction.

Upon his early retirement he began to write seriously, encouraged by the Penticton Writers and Publishers writers group.

This is his fifth novel. He also writes several genres of poetry, completed a large number of short stories and a book of humour. His poetry has been published in three countries and he performs his cowboy poetry at cowboy poetry festivals.

He has had numerous articles published in the news press.