About Mike
This Storie Has been Waiting to be told
Mike Storie was born in the Palouse wheat country in Eastern Washington State where his grandfather owned a blacksmith and welding shop in the small town of Colfax. Mike started working for him as a teenager and learned the fundamentals of that trade, as well as a common-sense approach to life in general. Mike’s parents moved to Seattle during WWII where his father worked for the war effort. After graduating from high school, Mike attended Washington State University where two years of ROTC were required. He was an accomplished clarinetist and while in school, he played in the All-City Band, the All-State Band and the All-Northwest Band.
In his sophomore year of college, he injured his neck in a weightlifting accident and had to drop out of school. Because he was of draft age and not in school, he received a draft notice but assumed that because of his injuries he would not pass the physical exam and be exempt. The Army was seriously looking for operatives for the Army Security Agency (ASA) and in a surprise to him, he scored so high on his 1.0 and aptitude tests that they overlooked his injuries and drafted him into the Army in early 1960.
After basic training at Fort Ord, California and Electronics and Morse Operations training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, he was posted to West Berlin, Germany where he worked gathering Soviet and East German intelligence for three years starting about one year before the Wall was built. This book is a memoir in words and pictures of this very interesting time in the early Cold War.
After the service, Mike completed his engineering education and was heavily involved in the early days of computer applications. He has worked in the fields of Naval Architecture, Environmental Research, Laser Research and Econometric Research. He helped found a startup company specializing in localare, computer networks and for fun has sailed 50-foot cutter-rigged sailboats between the Northwest and Ha-mai on six occasions, and for twenty years produced the comic operas of Gilbert & Sullivan in Seattle.
He is married to Rachel Garson, who assisted immeasurably with the production of his book
Storie Time
About the Book
This book is narration in words and photographs of my experiences in the service when I was in my early twenties. It is from the perspective of a draftee who the Army thought to be pretty well suited for a military career but while keeping my nose clean with the officers and non-commissioned officers, I made it clear that I had other plans for my life – Thank you very much.
Mike Storie
Have questions for Mike? You are invited to connect with him with questions or press inquiries.
Mike Storie currently resides in Seattle, WA