At age nineteen, Richard E. Peck was commissioned the youngest officer and pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps. He then completed college in 2 ½ years, his Ph.D. in three. He's worked as a stock boy, door-to-door salesman, disk jockey, playwright, actor and club comic, and eventually president of three universities. Not all at once. His novels celebrate the places he's lived: Philadelphia, Rome, New Mexico, Wisconsin. He writes - all day, every day - when he's not golfing or visiting his grandchildren. He has a clear goal in mind for his work. "Two novels a year," he says. "Each one better than the last, until I get it right." His best-selling book, TRAVELING AT MY DESK, collects 52 humor and travel columns originally published in Philadelphia, Swarthmore, and Albuquerque newspapers; and those columns are the basis for his frequent, entertaining talks. You can contact him at: www.richardepeck.com