The Tradition Continues...

About 5 years ago, we lost my step-dad, Jim Shamblin, after a long battle with Post-Polio Syndrome.  Luckily for me, Jim and I developed a special bond over the years that I will always treasure, and he sealed it with his beloved collection of William Henry knives.

Jim Shamblin was a “man’s man” and had the kind of life you only read about in adventure novels.  As a teenager, he joined the Merchant Marine during WWII, and was the sole survivor when the tanker he was serving on was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the coast of India.  After floating on a drum for a week, Jim was rescued by another US tanker.

Jim and his stellar knife collection

Jim ended up joining the Army and served in post-war Germany, and eventually in Vietnam, where he survived a helicopter crash.  He became an engineer and worked on projects for the Department of Defense, NASA, the US Air Force, as well as international companies and foreign governments. And, in his retirement, Jim wrote 6 novels, largely autobiographical, about some of the amazing episodes in his life.

(more…)