I first got the idea for Deadly Contest in 1961, while I was a student at Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University). My fraternity house roommate came from one of the few white families in the poorest country in the Caribbean. His sister came to the USA to compete in the Miss Universe contest, but ended up as a patient in a Philadelphia hospital, diagnosed with a serious disease. The dictator of the small nation refused to accept the fact that she could not compete in the pageant. Within a short period of time, this became an international incident resulting in the loss of many lives and my roommate and his sister having to go into hiding. That is the true story behind Deadly Contest.

In the 1970's, I first tried writing the story as it happened, but that didn't work. As often happens, the true story was too unbelievable to make a good book. And, as also often happens, there was no real ending.

Over ten years ago, I tried again to create a novel based on the events described above. To make a better story, I needed to completely change the character of my roommate, changing him from a serious, brilliant student to a flighty spoiled rich kid. I also invented a protagonist, who ended up being the most interesting character in the book. And, of course, I invented an ending. The first edition of Deadly Contest was published in 2002.

However, I was not happy with the novel as published. For the past few years, I have been studying creative writing and, in 2011, decided to completely rewrite Deadly Contest. I expanded the story and added new characters. The new edition of Deadly Contest was published in July of 2012.

AvailThe one thing that I wanted most after finishing the book was for my roommate to read Deadly Contest and see what I did to his story. However, the only word I had about him came about two years after the aborted contest, when I heard there was a one hundred thousand dollar price tag on his head, and that he had joined a resistance group.

Four years ago, my wife and I were planning a three week vacation. Before leaving, just for fun, I entered my roommate’s name in Google, on the off chance that I might find him. I not only found him, but discovered that he lived less than one hundred miles from me! I decided that the first thing that I would do when we returned would be to contact him.

I Googled him again as soon as we returned. Then I saw it – his obituary! He had died while we were on our trip. I will always regret that I didn’t call him before we left. Sometimes, life really does suck.

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