Life's Reflections

About the Book

The title of the book is ‘Life’s Reflections” and the subtitle is “From a Toddler to Eternity.” The author was motivated to write this book for several reasons, i.e., he had read his maternal grandfather’s diaries, he reviewed a genealogy study of his family, he wanted to leave something for posterity, and, most important of all, he wanted to share his testimony in becoming a born again Christian in 1999.

He has focused on those things that have loomed large in his memory bank. There are literally hundreds of vignettes that describe the more unusual things that have happened to him in his life, and for that reason, there is no one central theme of the book. The book beckons the reader to accompany him on a literary journey that is at times humorous, adventurous, insightful, tragic, hopeful or miraculous, as the case may be. It is the author’s hope, too, that the reader will benefit from some of the lessons in life that he has learned.

The book contains ten chapters as follows: Chapter One, The Early Years;

Chapter Two, The Junior High Years; Chapter Three, The High School Years; Chapter

Four, The College Years; Chapter Five, The Navy Years; Chapter Six, The Young Adult

Years; Chapter Seven, The Thirties Years; Chapter Eight, The Alaska Years; Chapter

Nine, The Georgia Years; and Chapter Ten, The Salvation Years.

This autobiography will hopefully appeal to students at all levels of education, to teachers, to school administrators, to military personnel, to young married adults, to parents, to musicians, to athletes, to those who long to visit or live in Alaska, to RV enthusiasts, to cottage owners, to boaters, to retirees, to those who have lost a spouse to a terminal illness, to fishermen, to hunters, to world travelers, as well as to Christians everywhere—and to just about everyone else in one way or another. Come and join me in this reading adventure—you will enjoy it!

About the Author

The author was born in Flint, Michigan, a General Motors factory town, on May 16, 1932. He was the second of four boys born to his parents, Herbert Wesley and Leona Mae Craig. He was named after both of his grandfathers, i.e., his Dad’s father’s name was Charles Craig, and his maternal grandfather was the Rev. Charles H. Woods, a Free Methodist minister.

He attended Washington Elementary School, Lowell Junior High School, and graduated with distinction from Flint Central High School in 1950. While in high school, he was the first-chair trumpet player in the Band, set records in track in the shot put, and received All City, All Conference, and All State honors in football. He subsequently received a football scholarship to the University of Michigan.

His postsecondary education was interrupted by a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy, but he later earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, a  Master’s Degree in School Administration, and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in School Administration from the University of Michigan. During his tenure with the Flint Public Schools, he served in a variety of teaching and administrative positions, including the principalships of Johnson, Carpenter Road, and Potter Schools.

After sixteen years in the Flint School system, he was appointed as the Principal of the Seward Elementary/Junior High School in Seward, Alaska in 1974. After spending a year in Seward, he accepted an appointment as the Director of Community Programs for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in Soldotna, Alaska. Later, he accepted a position as the Executive Secretary for the Alaska State Professional Teaching Practices Commission [PTPC], and this required a move to Anchorage, Alaska where the Commission’s Office was located.