A Few of the Chosen (ePub)

Rodger J. Bille was born in 1935 in the sawmill town of McCleary, Washington. He was raised near Tacoma, Washington, where his parents were both scout leaders. Rodger learned survival skills at an early age boating the waters of Puget Sound, hiking the Olympic Mountains and camping at Cozy Cove, the family beach place. He attended the school of journalism at the U of W in Seattle for a short time, but was married at 19 and a father at 21, which put his dreams of acting and writing on hold for many years. Racing go-karts, drag racers, sports cars and outboard boats became an early obsession, but after rolling his Porsche Speedster in a race in Canada, he settled on the less expensive sport of motorcycles at age 27. In the mid-sixties he wrote a monthly column for Cycle Magazine while working as an importer of Italian motorcycles. Between 1974 and 1980 he participated in jet boat racing on rivers in Mexico, Canada and New Zealand. After several disasters, which provided a large amount of writing material, he returned to motorcycles and still races Vintage Moto-Cross regularly at age 68. Widowed after 34 years, Rodger married again in 1989 and currently lives with his wife Dolores in Saratoga Springs, Utah where he is an active High Priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. he maintains a fleet of dirt bikes, old VWs and a large motor home, many of which are used in exploring the vast and varied areas described in his writing. (He regrets that the boats are no longer his!)

Whereas most writers declare the people and circumstances in their stories to be totally fictitious, almost all of the characters in "A Few of the Chosen" are Rodger's family and friends with only a few name changes. The essay "The Kind of Place in Which I Would Like to Live" was taken word for word from his grandfather's memoirs. The locations described are actual and many of the experiences portrayed are taking place or are happening.

Other titles by Rodger