Wallace charts different course as author
By Brian McGee
News Herald Staff Writer
Former Jewett resident George Wallace completed an adventurous 22 years of naval service with nuclear submarines in 1995. Eight years later, his career path has taken him in a different direction.
Recently, Wallace co-authored a fictional novel called “Final Bearing” that describes what could happen based upon what his experiences in the Navy.
“I thought about it for a very long time,” he said. “People seem to enjoy talking about their life experiences through writing.”
Because much of what Wallace experienced is classified information, he believed it would be best to write a fictional novel.
“It would have been very difficult to write a real-life story,” he said. “You can’t talk about missions or ship capabilities.”
The process of finding an agent did not exactly start out smoothly. Finding representation for the first manuscript took six months and several hundred letters to different agents. Having accomplished that hurdle, Wallace still had to find a publisher.
“We were very lucky on that,” he said. “The typical statistics are that 95 percent of first-time authors never find an agent and the 5 percent that do, but 95 percent of those do not find a publisher.”
The agent that he eventually found, Robby Robison, rejected his first proposal.
“He is a former submarine from the 1950s,” Wallace said. “He declined on my first manuscript, but on my other one he suggested I team up with Don Keith.
“It was remarkably easy. I had never met Don, and he had no military experience but had written a couple of novels. I had a four- or five-page story that we agreed on. I wrote a chapter and sent it to Don. He would (edit) it and send it back. We reiterated that two or three times for about nine months. The working relationship was very smooth.”
Keith, a broadcaster and novelist, wrote “The Forever Season,” which was named the 1997 Fiction Award Winner by the Alabama Library Association.
“I’m guessing (the agent) thought we would be a good match to work together,” Wallace said. “Don’s very good at putting color into scenes and characters, particularly putting conversations together.”
In the book, Wallace draws on his many experiences from his Navy career and part of the plot deals with the Colombian drug wars. He served on two of Admiral Rickover’s famous “Forty-one for Freedom,” the USS John Adams SSBN 620 and the USS Woodrow Wilson SSBN 624, where he made nine 100-day deterrent patrols through the height of the Cold War.
Wallace served as executive officer on the Sturgeon Class nuclear submarine, Spadefish. The Spadefish and her sisters were decommissioned during the downsizing of the 1990s. The passing of the ship served as the inspiration for “Final Bearing.”
He also commanded the Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine, USS Houston SSN 713, from February 1990 to August 1992. During his tour of duty, he worked extensively with the SEAL community developing SEAL/submarine tactics. Under Wallace’s command, the Houston was awarded the CIA Meritorious Unit Citation.
Another highlight of his career included meeting author Tom Clancy. The movie “Hunt for Red October,” based upon Clancy’s novel, was filmed on the USS Houston. Wallace took command after the movie was completed.
“Final Bearing” is a portion of a three-part series. The second book is completed in manuscript form with a tentative release date set for sometime next year. Meanwhile, the third manuscript is half-finished.
He currently resides in Granada Hills, Calif., with his wife Penny. Wallace will be returning to Harrison County this month for a family reunion and will participate in a book signing at the Puskarich Library in Cadiz. No date has been announced.
Book information is available at www.finalbearing.com. Copies of the novel can be purchased through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com.