Capt. John Fitzgerald, USCG (ret.), graduated from the U. S. Coast Guard Academy in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. During his career, he served aboard the Coast Guard Cutters MIDGETT, HAMILTON, LEGARE and commanded the 210-foot cutter CONFIDENCE. He was also Commanding Officer of an isolated-duty Coast Guard Long Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) Station on Kure Island, Hawaii. His other tours included: a search and rescue controller in the Ninth District Command Center in Cleveland, Ohio; Seventeenth District Public Affairs Officer in Juneau, Alaska; Coast Guard Atlantic Area/Fifth District Public Affairs Officer in Portsmouth, Virginia; Press Secretary for the Commandant of the Coast Guard; the Assistant Commandant of Cadets & Commandant of Cadets at the Coast Guard Academy and the Commanding Officer of enlisted personnel and the Chief of Personnel and Support Services at the Coast Guard Academy. In 1994, Captain Fitzgerald attended Boston University and received a Masters Degree in Mass Communications. In 1998 and 1999, he and his staff were recipients of the CDR Jim Simpson Award for overall excellence in Coast Guard Public Affairs. In 1999, he received the Coast Guard's Alex Haley Award (honorable mention) for his work as a Coast Guard author and has been published in The Foundation for Coast Guard History’s coffee table book, Coast Guard; Proceedings; Science Technology; Sailing and Alaska Fisherman's Journal. He retired from the Coast Guard in 2012. Illustrator Audrey Gaynier is a 2017 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Following graduation she served on board cutter DECISIVE as the Damage Control Assistant. She was then assigned to the Project Residence Office Gulf Coast in support of the National Security Cutter Construction Program. She now lives in Mobile, AL where she works on the USCG Offshore Patrol Cutter Construction Program. A talented artist, Audrey has combined her love of the Coast Guard with her passion for painting, thus creating her chart art business; Chart Art By Aud (Instagram; @chartart_byaud)
