A HEART TOO FAR

About the Book

An American woman plays a redeeming role amidst America's duplicity and betrayal of the Philippine struggle for independence during the revolution against Spain, which culminated in the Spanish-American and Philippine American wars. The fiction/nonfiction novel highlights the military and romantic exploits of the dashing and legendary hero, 23-year old General Gregorio Del Pilar, then the youngest in the Philippine army and American Christine Kelcher's intimate relationship with him and her allegiance to his country. Aide-de-camp to Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo in exile in Hong Kong, the young general was euphoric over the coming of the Americans, espousing to his president acceptance of their offer of help in liberating Manila from the Spanish. When Commodore George Dewey and General Wesley Merritt betrayed the insurgency in a secret agreement with the Spanish to wage a mock battle to liberate the city to the exclusion of the insurgents "to protect the pride and honor of Spain," the general vowed to protect the president from capture, "or else the Republic dies." Military maneuvers by Major Peyton March and Colonel Charles Gilbert and their well-armed and well-trained soldiers are matched by surprise maneuvers by the insurgent general, making his last stand in Tirad Pass with 60 soldiers against 600 Texas Volunteers of the 33rd Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Expeditionary Force. The president avoided capture for 11 months more after the battle.

About the Author

A Heart Too Far is the author's third book, a hybrid fiction/non-fiction following his straight fictions, The Sea Butterfly and Beyond The Gates of Heaven. Formerly a columnist for The Salinas Californian, a regional newspaper, he wrote scientific articles for regional magazines and newspapers in California and other states. He was editor-in-chief of his high school paper and later, editor-in-chief of his University of the Philippines College of Agriculture newsmagazine as well as community paper. Retired from the Mounterey County Agricultural Commissioner Department and California Department of Food and Agriculture as agricultural biologist, the author holds the Ph.D (Washington State University), M.S. (University of Rhode Island), and BSA degrees. He served as instructor and lecturer of Plant Science at Hartnell College and Fresno State University in California, respectively, and as Visiting Professor and Research Geneticist at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He resides in Salinas, California with his wife, Rita, a retired elementary school teacher (M.A. Ed, University of San Francisco). He has three daughters and a son with her, all married with 7 children. At 78, he plans to write more books.