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Top left photo (2009, Chicago) - The author relaxing at home. Above right photo (1951, Pennsylvania) - The author, age 2, fishing with his father, Charles Wentz, Jr., on the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania. Bottom right photo ((1957, California) - The author, left, age 8, with his brother, Mark, their father, USN Chief Petty Officer Charles Wentz, Jr., and their sister, Christina.
ERIC
WENTZ was born in a small town in southern Pennsylvania
where as a boy he learned to hunt, fish, and read, both the written word and
the signs of nature. After years
of an almost transient life as the son of a Naval officer, the family settled
in Ohio, where he attended the Jesuit College Preparatory high school, Cleveland St.
Ignatius. There he engaged in
athletics and learned to love the quest for knowledge, a quest nurtured by the
Jesuits who play such a prominent role in his novel.
Later, he continued under their tutelage as a student at Cincinnati
Xavier University, majoring in English and Social Studies.
He wedded these disciplines to a life long interest in writing poetry,
studying archaeology, and understanding military battle tactics and logistics.
He then taught and coached in the Cincinnati area before attending Ohio
State University where he obtained a master’s degree in applied linguistics
and Italian.
In 1992 Wentz obtained a second master’s degree, this one in
educational administration, from Northern Illinois University.
He continued his studies, culminating in a doctorate in the same
discipline in 1999. Wentz has
devoted more than twenty-five years to teaching high school English and Social
Studies, receiving various teaching awards including one from the Department
of Commerce and several from the Defense Department.
Additionally, Wentz has coached high school wrestling, baseball, track
and cross-country.
Wentz’ teaching success is mirrored in his own career as a Navy
officer in the United States armed forces.
His career has afforded him an opportunity to travel widely in his
functions with the Department of Defense and serves as the basis for much of
the material in his current novel. His background in military affairs and
linguistics enables him to craft his stories with factual precision and
aesthetic delights. He maintains an interest in wilderness canoeing, deep sea fishing, and archaeological excavation. Wentz is married and has four children.
Web Design by Mark C. Wentz | Copyright © Eric John Wentz 2009 Military photos, except above photos, courtesy of SSgt. Daniel Kozar (Ret.), United States Marine Corps
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