Randy Wayne White

Randy Wayne White (born 1950) is an American writer of crime fiction and non-fiction adventure tales. He has written New York Times best-selling novels and has received awards for his fiction and a television documentary. He is best known for his series of crime novels featuring the retired NSA agent Doc Ford, a marine biologist living on the Gulf Coast of southern Florida. White has contributed material on a variety of topics to numerous magazines and has lectured across the United States. A resident of Southwest Florida since 1972, he currently lives on Pine Island, where he is active in South Florida civic affairs and with the restaurant Doc Ford's Sanibel Rum Bar & Grill on nearby Sanibel Island.

Biography

White was born in Ashland, Ohio, and spent his early life on a small farm outside Pioneer, Ohio. His summers were spent in Rockingham, North Carolina, his mother's hometown. In the 1960s his family moved to Davenport, Iowa, where White attended Davenport Central High School and competed in baseball, football, and springboard diving. After graduating in 1968, he spent time in travel before settling in Southwest Florida in 1972. The Vietnam War was raging during those years and he performed no military service according to his own bio. After "traveling" for five years after high school, White worked for the Fort Myers News-Press for four years during which time he obtained a captain's license. He then bought a used charter boat and operated as a light-tackle fishing guide at the Tarpon Bay Marina on Sanibel Island for thirteen years.