The Great Catch: Alaskan Short Stories - Hardcover

Hanson, Dale: - Dale Hanson is an accomplished sculptor who has led a life of adventure and enjoyed numerous accomplishments. He is a black belt martial artist, an author, a pilot of fixed wing and glider airplanes, has flown aerobatics and is a Special Forces underwater diver. He is a disabled veteran and a member of MENSA. During the Vietnam War, Dale was a highly decorated Green Beret who served three years as a commando in the famous SOG program, whose mission involved extremely dangerous raids far behind enemy lines. This unit received more decorations and suffered higher rates of casualties than any American unit since the American Civil War. On one of these raids, Dale earned the first of several purple hearts as his right hand was mangled by a burst of machine gun fire. It is ironic that he became a sculptor, a field in which one's hands are so critical. The artistic fruit of those hands today can be found in collections of thousands of people throughout the world. Signature to his work is a strong emphasis on artistic composition, grace, and flowing lines, combined with attention to detail. In haiku, Dale has expressed his artistic talent in perhaps the most disciplined of written forms. With great economy of words, the writer of haiku is challenged to express concepts and insight as seen in everyday observations. In his work, Dale skillfully points out from the commonplace that which one may have missed and then makes application to life.