Howard Gregory; Adventurer, Author

Howard Gregory, 75, a self-educated man who turned his colorful resume and adventures into five books. Born in Philadelphia, he was an orphan and a school dropout by age 15. His string of jobs included driving a beer truck, lugging beef in a packinghouse and working on a railroad and in a steel mill. He was also a motion picture extra, skydiver and aircraft industry analyst. During World War II, Gregory served in a parachute division in Africa, Sicily and Italy and became a boxing champion. He wrote about what he liked--particularly parachuting and travel. His books included “The Falcon’s Disciples� with two sequels about parachuting, “Southern California’s Seacoast Then & Now� and “Around the World Then & Now.� Gregory self-published his books, all financially and critically successful, with the encouragement of Bennett Cerf. Gregory was also inspired by such writers as Mark Twain and Edgar Rice Burroughs, who self-published some of their early work. On Aug. 20 in Los Angeles of cancer.