WILLIAM BONVILLE

Author of:
A Traveler's Greece, A Traveler's Two Sicilies,
A Traveler's Highway to Heaven

Bill Bonville has written a host of books, most of them technical, produced during his years in the aerospace industry. His publications for the "trade" include works of fiction, philosophical analysis and, since retirement to his farm in Oregon, a series of travel books which he chooses to think of as "history on the hoof." They spring from his fascination with things historical and his experience as a traveler with an eye for history.

Bill began his writing career in the U. S. Navy at the end of World War II after his bombing squadron was decommissioned. Serving as a correspondent with Naval Air Transport Service Squadron VR-4, his first by-line was on a feature story in the NATS Packet magazine in 1946. Fifty years later, one of his more recent bylines came on an article in Conservative Consensus, sharing the masthead list of contributors with Pat Buchanan and others.

During the intervening half century he received a BA in journalism from Bethany College, Bethany, WV, an MA in philosophy from Columbia University in New York City, was a reporter or the Worcester (MA) Telegram, and later worked as a "stringer" for the Denver Post while attending Colorado University engaged in further graduate study. In 1954, Bill left the university to become editor of the former Gallup, NM, Times. A year later, he went to Los Angeles, California to become a technical editor for an aerospace company. In 1956, Bill moved to Aerojet General Corporation, Azusa, CA, where he worked for twenty-five years, advancing to Manager of Technical Documentation and Training.

During his years with Aerojet he authored many technical books, research reports, and training manuals. In his spare time he wrote a novel, Something of a Woman, and a philosophical study, Footnotes to a Fairytale: A Study of the Nature of Expression in the Arts. The latter work, still in print, was the combined fruit of his major academic studies with his research supporting advanced learning systems development while at Aerojet.

Past interest in cultural history led Bill to undertake an in-depth visit to Southern Italy, but he found there were no guides that delved more than superficially into the region. In frustration, he decided to research the area of Italy south of Rome, and prepared extensive personal notes to guide such a trip. Enthused by his experience in do-it-yourself travel, he translated his notes into a travel guide that was published in 1988 by Mills and Sanderson as Sicilian Walks. This led to further researches, now published as a travel adventure e-book series by SynergEbooks.

Bill is married, with grown children, and active in community affairs, serving nine years on the county Board of Education.