Wendell Affield, the third oldest of nine children, grew up in northern Minnesota. At seventeen he enlisted in the Navy. In January 1968 Affield went to Vietnam as the cox’n of Armor Troop Carrier 112-11 with the Mobile Riverine Force. On August 18, 1968 he was wounded in an ambush and medevaced home. After retiring from business in 2001 Affield enrolled in Bemidji State University, where, over the years, his Vietnam essays evolved into Muddy Jungle Rivers. In 2003 Affield met Dan O’Brien at a writer’s workshop. O'Brien invited him to his buffalo ranch in the Black Hills where he spent a week. O'Brien advised Affield to read Hemingway. Study Hemingway. Today, faint echoes resonate in Affield’s writing. He and his wife, Patti, live in northern Minnesota. They have three children and several grandchildren. Affield is currently working on a biography series of of his family history titled Chickenhouse Chronicles.