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ABOUT STEVE
Stephen
Coonts is the author of 14 New York Times bestsellers, the first
of which was the classic flying tale, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER.
Born in 1946, Stephen Paul Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West
Virginia, a coal-mining town of 6,000 population on the western
slope of the Appalachian mountains. He majored in political
science at West Virginia University, graduating in 1968 with an
A.B. degree. Upon graduation he was commissioned an Ensign in
the U.S. Navy and began flight training in Pensacola, Florida.
He received his Navy wings in August, 1969.
After completion of fleet replacement training in the
 A-6
Intruder aircraft, Mr. Coonts reported to Attack Squadron 196 at
NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. He made two combat cruises
aboard USS Enterprise during the final years of the Vietnam War
as a member of this squadron. After the war he served as a
flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour
as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS
Nimitz. He left active duty in 1977 and moved to Colorado. After
short stints as a taxi driver and police officer, he entered the
University of Colorado School of Law in the fall of 1977.
 Mr.
Coonts received his law degree in December, 1979, and moved to
West Virginia to practice. He returned to Colorado in 1981 as a
staff attorney specializing in oil and gas law for a large
independent oil company.
His first novel, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER, published in September
1986 by the Naval
 Institute
Press, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in
hardcover. A motion picture based on this novel, with the same
title, was released nationwide in January 1991.
The success of his first novel allowed Mr. Coonts to devote
himself full time to writing; he has been at it ever since. He
and his wife, Deborah, enjoy flying and try to do as much of it
as possible.
 Mr.
Coonts' books have been widely translated and republished in the
British Commonwealth, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Finland,
Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Poland,
Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, China, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Serbia,
Latvia, and Israel.
Mr. Coonts was a trustee of West Virginia Wesleyan College from
1990-1998. He was inducted into the West Virginia University
Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 1992. The U.S. Naval
Institute honored him with its Author of the Year Award for the
year 1986 for his novel, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER. Mr. Coonts and
his wife, Deborah, reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Contact Steve:
E-mail: steve@coonts.com
or write: P.O. Box 281, Arbovale, WV 24915. |
