L. John Lawrence has added “novelist” to a distinguished resume of accomplishments.
In Hello, Wigwam, from 4RV Publishing, Lawrence targets the young adult audience with an anti-war message wrapped in comedy, irony, pathos, and adventure. His crime novel, The Beauty Rules, is presently being tendered to publishers. In Dark Glory, a project now in development, a rural sheriff is over-matched by a mysterious series of violent incidents and deaths.
Lawrence enlisted in the Air Force immediately after high school and during the Vietnam War was commissioned while on active duty. As an officer he was assigned to the military space program, participating in ballistic missile testing, space launches of military payloads including spy satellites, and support of NASA’s Apollo program.
As NASA prepared for the first Space Shuttle flight, Lawrence was invited to join the team at Johnson Space Center, Houston. He was the “Voice of Mission Control” for the 24 Shuttle flights preceding the Challenger accident. Between missions he managed media relations and public affairs activity for the Shuttle program and its astronauts. In the subsequent years he held several executive-level positions in the Shuttle and Space Station programs, both in Houston and at NASA Headquarters, Washington.
After NASA, he campaigned unsuccessfully for the US Congressional seat from his home district, then served a term as an ambassador for the Global Peace Initiative. He is currently Executive Vice President of the food safety cooperative, VeriPrime, Inc., and serves on several boards of directors.
Lawrence earned a Bachelor’s Degree cum laude at Texas A&M University, a Masters Degree in Public Administration, and a Ph.D. in Behavior. He has authored innumerable articles and professional publications, and has won several awards for fiction.
He and his wife reside in a lakefront home in a rural area of Northeast Texas.