BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C., April 19, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Some men are content to live dull, uneventful lives of peace and normalcy. However, that kind of life is just not Jack Mahaney's style. His new book, Hell-Bent for Adventure: Coal Mines and Goldmines, U-Boats and Bill Clinton's Mail (now available through AuthorHouse), is a chronicle of many of his escapades from a life lived like no other.
His story begins in the mines of Pennsylvania where he shoveled coal as boy who longed of traveling the rails to adventure. He often quenched his thirst by exploring the nearby mountains on his own. At an age when most boys were chasing after girls, Mahaney was trapping wildcats or nearly freezing to death in the cold confines of the Simmenone Forest. While a student at the University of Tennessee, he lived with Cherokee witch doctors, explored hidden gold mines and patrolled the dams erected by the Tennessee Valley Authority. When World War II broke out, Mahaney found the real sort of adventures for which he had always yearned. As an officer in the Navy, he and his men battled U-boats and enemy aircraft on the high seas.
War, however, did not quell his need for excitement. He hunted with natives in the Amazon jungle, went "nose to nose with Masai warriors" in Africa, helped battle fruit flies found on Navy ships as an inspector for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and even got a "bit of action during the ill fated Bay of Pigs invasion." His wanderlust even took him to the White House where he dealt with the "erotic letters" written to then-President Bill Clinton. All in all, Mahaney squeezed as much adrenaline out of life as possible.
"The master key that has unlocked the doors to my life is adventure. In its pursuit, I have often had to gamble with death. Call it bravery or foolhardiness, I find that nothing gets the blood running faster than danger. Why tiptoe through a life as well regulated as a prison, as safe as a nursery or a nursing home?" Mahaney says.
For those who desire excitement and danger, Hell Bent for Adventure relives a life lived for excitement and dedicated to the unpredictable turns it can take.
Mahaney now lives in North Carolina. Although Hell Bent for Adventure is his first book, he plans more volumes on these and other globetrotting adventures.
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