As I remember, I attended St Philomena's from 1962 to 1964, during 2nd and 3rd grade. Seattle was still run by Boeing, the Seahawks had yet to set foot in the place, and the Seattle World's Fair was still news. Makes me realise I'm getting older. While attending the School, and during the Spring of '63 (?) the kids were asked to assemble in the parking lot. There, we formed a giant cross - and stood with jaws slack and heads held high as we watched then President Kennedy make a special flypass over the amazed students. Only a few months later, I also remember sitting at one of those tiny desks as an announcement was made over the PA, asking us all to kneel and pray for a President that lay dying in a Texas Hospital so many miles away. And I remember the nuns crying as we knelt, a group of innocents praying for a fallen hero.

I moved from Seattle late in 1964, and since then my life has taken me across the United States and beyond. My father, a pilot with United, was transferred first to New York, then to Miami, then Chicago. I stayed there until '74, then went to University of Michigan for one year, then back to Illinois, completing my BA in theatre and political science in '78. Then moved to LA for an MBA at UCLA, and then travelled to Ireland the summer of 1980 for a little R&R.

There, I met my wife Bernadette. Always a precocious fellow, I asked her to marry me within 5 days, and in December of 80 we were married and returned to New York where I worked for a stint at Avis Rent a Car Systems. In the Spring of 82, we moved to Ireland where I've been ever since.

With three children now, and twenty years of marriage under my belt, I spend most of my time working as a children's book writer, television and feature screenwriter (all distributed in Europe, so nothing to show my US friends - yet!), and running my Marketing Communications company, Storylines Ltd.

It's been a long journey from Seattle to Ireland, and has often been a roller-coaster of a ride. But I suspect that the best is yet to come. Wishing all of you well...Tom Richards