|
Burton P. Christenson, fellow soldier, wrote:
| |
I watched a man during the peak of one of our most epic struggles with
the Germans. We had fought for twelve hours. The enemy fire was showing
on our nerves. The men were done in. The look of death showed in the faces
of the living. The men of the first platoon were trying to blend into
anything that made them inconspicuous. Tension mounted. Then far up ahead
at the closest point to the enemy, standing erect, stood Dave Webster,
shouting to the Germans to surrender. And as they sheepishly passed this
hunk of a man, going to the end of their war, the first platoon again
moved forward. |
|
A Brief Biography of David Kenyon Webster, Author of Parachute
Infantry
- Born June 2, 1922 in New York, New York
- 1937-1940, Attended the Taft School, Watertown, Connecticut
- 1940-1942, Attended Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 1942-1945, Rifleman, 101st Airborne Division
- 1945-1961, Journalist (reporter with Wall Street Journal, L.A.
Daily News), writer, public relations (North American Aviation,
Systems Development Corporation, Pacific Ocean Park), sales
- Interests: Writing, surfing, skin diving, sailing, social justice
- September 9, 1961, lost at sea while shark fishing off the coast of
Santa Monica, California, leaving a wife and three children
Also author of:
|
Myth
and Maneater, the Story of the Shark, a non-fiction book
about sharks published in 1962 by W.W. Norton and Peter Davies,
and reprinted in paperback in 1975 by Dell Publishing. According
to shark biologist Rick Martin, this is one of his "10 favorite
shark books of all time."
"The Night Before D-Day," an article about wartime experiences,
published by Saga Magazine, October 1959
"They Ride the Wild Waves," an article about surfing,
published in the Saturday Evening Post, June 14, 1958
"We Drank Hitler's Champagne," an article about wartime
experiences, published by the Saturday Evening Post, May 3, 1952
Other unpublished fiction and non-fiction work
|
| |
 |
|
|
Barbara Webster, in her foreword to Myth
and Maneater, wrote:
| At 10 a.m. on September 9th, 1961 Dave sailed away from the
Santa Monica pier in the Tusitala. He had squid bait, a heavy
line and hook. He was going shark fishing. That evening I drove
to the pier, planning to help him beach the boat. He had not
come in. I spoke to the harbour-master, who suggested that he
might be waiting for a wind to bring him in. But he did not
come home that night. The Coast Guard began a search the next
morning with boats and planes. Finally a fishing boat found
the Tusitala awash five miles offshore. One oar and the tiller
were missing, and so was Dave. |
|
 |
Comments or questions on this web site?
E-mail here.
|
