HOLMES, David Charlson 1919-2004

(David Charlson)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born August 18, 1919, in Spokane, WA; died June 26, 2004, in South Haven, CT. Holmes enjoyed a long career in the U.S. Navy as an aviator and weapons expert, but he was also the author of a dozen books, both fiction and nonfiction. Graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1942, Holmes served on mine sweepers in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, he became a naval aviator and was an expert on guided missile systems for the Bureau of Aerospace from 1954 until 1957. From 1958 until 1962, he managed the space tracking network for the Advanced Research Projects Agency. This was followed by two years working for NATO in Oslo, Norway. The last four years of his navy career, which ended in 1972, were spent as director of Naval Weapons Engineering Support Activity. Holmes retired as a captain, but continued to work from 1972 until 1982 as an aerospace consultant on global positioning satellites for the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. After a few years off, he returned to work in 1989 for a time as president of Encore Broadcasting Corp., and the next year he also joined the staff of Silver Queen Media, Inc. At the time of his death, Holmes was a member of the board for Kernco, Inc. Holmes's active writing period lasted from the 1950s through the 1970s. He published four works of fiction, including The Signpost (1944), No Time for Marriage (1951), Frenchie (1953), which was written under the pen name David Charlson, and The Velvet Ape (1955). His nonfiction work largely reflects his interest in space and aeronautics, including Why Shoot the Moon? (1960), The Search for Life on Other Worlds (1965), NAVSTAR: Navigation for the Future (1974), and TEMPUS: Time via Satellite (1978). Some of his writing, such as Young People's Book of Radar (1951), was directed toward younger audiences.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Washington Post, July 8, 2004, p. B6.