Jack Shakely is president emeritus of the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles. His essays and opinion pieces have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Denver Post and many other newspapers.His two novels, "The Confederate War Bonnet," and "POWs at Chigger Lake," are both set in Oklahoma, Shakely's home state. "The Confederate War Bonnett" won the gold medal as best historical/military fiction and best mid-western fiction in the 2009 Independent Publishers Awards. It was also a finalist in the ForWord Review Magazine award for fiction in 2008.Shakely is of Muscogee/Creek descent and was chair of the Los Angeles Native American Indian Commission from 1992 to 1996.He has one son, Benton, and resides in Rancho Mirage, California.