Flashermac Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 I was just told that travel writer Harold Stephens is seriously ill in the States. I don't know if anyone else on the board knows him (and I don't know him that well myself), but Hal Stephens is a very prolific travel writer. He is well into his 80s and is a WWII USMC vet with fantastic stories to tell about the war and his "adventures" with the Red Chinese in the post-war years. He has a home in Bangkok and I was surprised to learn he was back in the US. Hope he makes it, since he is one of a kind. Despite his age, he works out every day and could probably run a lot of folks on this board into the ground. http://www.haroldstephens.net/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Stephens_(author) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous God Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 I read him many years ago, didn;t know he was in Bangkok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted May 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 He's lived here for some time - at least did a few years ago. He was considering building another schooner and I helped him look for lumberyards. (The ship would be concrete; the wood was just needed for the molds.) I think he gave up that idea though. He lived on his own schooner for years, until it was wrecked in a storm. Someone else salvaged it and he was trying to get back some of his artwork that was on board. Wonder if he ever did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene1944 Posted May 12, 2010 Report Share Posted May 12, 2010 I don't know him well but met him one night at a book store in Palo Alto, CA where he showed slides and gave a narrative of his adventures. I had the opportunity to chat with him briefly. He seemed like the kind of guy who one could listen to all night long as he spoke of his adventures. What an amazing life! Sorry to hear he is ill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom Michael Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 Not my quote - [color:red]"He's a travel writer and he had a big wooden yacht that peace corps volunteers helped him build during r&r. He used to sail around the South Seas during the 60s-70s or 80s. He went to Tahiti a lot. My favorite FCCT event was a slide show he did about his sailing adventures. He outsmarted a pirate ship in the Straits of Malaysia. I think he also did around the world rally car event to promote BP or a gas company or Honda in the 50s or 60s. It was a PR thing. He sailed to Hawaii or USA/California with his wooden yacht in the 80s or early 90s and docked it and a hurricane came and wrecked the boat."[/color] Anyone know where about in the USA he is now? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene1944 Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 I know he said he had a place in Northern California but I don't remember the town name. It was definitely not a big city. Perhaps in the Humboldt county area? Sorry, it has been 12-13 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted May 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 I didn't know Peace Corps vols got an R&R. I thought our entire time in Thailand was sort of an R&R. Also, his "big wooden yacht" had a concrete hull. He let all sorts of "volunteers" help build it in Bangkok. The yacht was wrecked when he was away and was letting some friends watch it. When a storm was approaching, they abandoned the yacht in the harbour and it was swamped and wrecked on the shore. He says if he'd been there, he'd have sailed out to sea and simply ridden out the storm. Don't know where he is right now. Got a brief email from a friend saying HS was very ill. I'd expect he is somewhere in California. Good guy ... fun to talk to. You don't feel like you are with a man in his 80s, since he looks and acts about 20 years younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit731 Posted May 21, 2010 Report Share Posted May 21, 2010 Sounds like a fantastic guy. Hate to lose some of the great and not so great story tellers and adventurers. I have a few stories to tell but they are all boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted May 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2010 Found out he is being treated in a hospital in San Francisco. Some type of cancer. Hope he will be with us a lot longer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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