Allen F. Glazner

I grew up in southern California at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, ran track in high school, and lucked into a job writing sports stories for a local afternoon newspaper. I went to games, kept all the statistics, and then went to the sports department where I composed the story in my head and typed it out in one go. It was in the paper the next afternoon. What a job, and introduction to writing, for a kid! I majored in geology at Pomona College, a field that blends my love of the outdoors with chemistry and physics. Bob Sharp’s Field Guide to Southern California was my entry into the geology of the Golden State. After earning a Ph.D. in geology at UCLA I took an assistant professor position at the University of North Carolina. Much to my surprise Sharp, a giant of the geological field, invited me, 43 years his junior, to start the Geology Underfoot series with him. I learned how to write for the public from him.