One Wave at a Time

It was March 2nd, 1969. Sixteen-year-old Billy Brown paced the floor of the housed he shared with his parents and sister in an affluent Fort Worth suburb. They were scheduled to be home by noon and were now several hours overdue in their return by private plane. Billy was becoming very concerned for he knew the dangers of flying in Texas thunderstorms. Thunder shook the house over and over as it chased every blinding strike of lightning that sliced through the black clouds that rolled angrily across the skies. Every minute that passed seemed like an eternity to young, privileged, pampered and protected Billy, who now faced a fear like he had never known. At a little after ten that night, the phone rang and his fears became a reality. "They are all gone" was all that he remembered from that call that changed his life forever. The few months following the death of his entire family are still a blur to him to this day. Suffice to say that the trauma that he experienced that dark, stormy, night set into play a three-decade series of events that make this book so much more than a story of loss. After a decade of a near maniacal-like search for something he couldn't even define, Billy found himself, literally, in the wilderness of the last frontier. Stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Alaska for nearly 18 months with his wife and two small children, Billy began to look within himself for the strength and skills necessary to bring his new family through their ordeal. Once rescued from Mosman Island, having survived bears, wolves, killer whales and two Alaskan winters, the Brown family found they had grown comfortable with the bush and went on to live another 20 plus years under conditions that most of us cannot even imagine and they thrived individually and as a family. This book is the true adventure of Billy and Ami and their seven children as they approached life head-on and turned tragedy and trials into triumphs and victories "one wave at a time". This is a true story of loss, pain, fear and survival; of dreams, determination, courage and love, and an adventure packed testament to the incredible power of love, trust and the strength of family.