(Paperback available in B&W or Full Color - click both format arrows - or Color Kindle) "They painted our planes black, we wondered about that, then they put flame arrestors on our engines. We were told the cabin would be completely blacked out, the cockpit windows were darkened, and we would be doing mainly night work..." LCDR Howard Miner, VP-54 This coming-of-age story follows the exploits of a WWII Navy seaplane pilot who became one of the first to fly night missions. From boxes of journals, photos, and artwork comes a true story filled with colorful descriptions of exotic locations, sea rescues, and the humor that was intrinsic to a Navy squadron's daily life while at war in the South Pacific. His is a tale of seven buddies, all pilots who flew at night, slept and got into mischief by day, then repeated. Wartime was unpredictable, and whether landing on a tropical isle where the women he saw from the air turned out to be topless, or dropping wing tanks containing a strange new substance called "Napalm," this was clearly a very different world than he had known as a college student in Indiana. Their seaplane odyssey stretched from the Solomon Islands to the northern tip of the Philippines and included a full range of missions, from search, attack, and bombing runs, to daring sea rescues. Howard's journey through training and tours of duty is skillfully captured in his art and narratives. The descriptive verse from the artist's viewpoint gives us a creatively told and intriguing portrayal of WWII's Pacific Theater. * * * * Miner combines his father's writings and interviews with WWII veterans to craft a loving tribute to the young men who fought in WWII...He does his father and the other WWII veterans proud. Publisher's Weekly * * * * "Sketches of a Black Cat" is a unique and fascinating memoir of a World War II combat aviator with original and previously unpublished sketches and photographs. This artfully crafted book is a must read for anyone in search of a new and completely different view into the world of war in the Pacific and on the home front during America's greatest conflict." Larkin Spivey, military historian and author. * * * *"From boxes of notes and drawings comes a book illuminating a WWII pilot's experiences as part of the Black Cat Squadron...accounts of support missions, rescues of airmen and interactions with indigenous island peoples told in vivid but unembellished detail...a handsome volume that reads breezily and is punctuated