Don Larsen has enjoyed his life but wonders why it happened as it did. Did he inherit all his breaks or did he accept and modify those dealt him? As a barefoot Kansas farm boy he was fascinated by life around him. Schooling began in a one-room rural school. After graduation with advanced degrees from Kansas State University and Emporia State University he found his perception of the world and people had sharpened. His interest in people and detail served him well as he became a teacher himself before becoming a principal in California. While term papers and a thesis were his only litery works early in life he took up writing and watercolers upon retirement. The humor of a lifetime and the attention to detail won him two first awards from The Bay Area Independent Publisher's Association. Best biography was given to "I've Never Been an Old Man," and two years later, best non-fiction was garnered by "The Prairie Tides."