Rod Timanus was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, raised in Cutler Ridge,
Florida, and lives in Glendale, Arizona. He is a disabled U. S.
Army Veteran, having served as a grenadier with the Americal Division in Viet
Nam, where he was wounded in combat, and later as an Infantry Squad Leader and
Operations Sergeant in Germany with the 1st Armored Division. He has an
Associates degree in Commercial Art from Middlesex Community College in Middletown,
Connecticut, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design from Paier College
of Art in Hamden, Connecticut and a Certificate in Illustration from the
Comic Art Workshop. A widower, he has one daughter.
His artwork, maps and diagrams have appeared in several books, including
Battlefields of Texas and Death of a Legend by Bill Groneman (Republic of
Texas Press) and The Alamo Story by J. R. Edmondson (Republic of Texas Press).
His work has also appeared in The Alamo Almanac and Book of Lists and The Davy
Crockett Almanac and Book of Lists by William R. Chemerka (Eakin Press). He
has contributed cover art, illustrations, and written articles for The Alamo
Journal, official publication of The Alamo Society. From that career he began to
write and illustrate his own books about the Old West.
He has retraced the last journeys of David Crockett, from Rutherford,
Tennessee to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas and Lt. Col. George Armstrong
Custer from Fort Lincoln, North Dakota to the Little Bighorn Valley in Montana. On
the Crockett Trail (Pioneer Press) is a history/travel book released in
November of 1999, On the Custer Trail (Pioneer Press) was released in 2001, in time
to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Also in 2001, An Illustrated History of Texas Forts (Republic of Texas Press)
was released. Additionally, On the Lewis and Clark Trail (Pioneer Press), a
retracing of the 1804-1806 expedition through the Louisiana Territory from
modern-day Hartford, Illinois to Astoria, Oregon, was released in January 2003 to
commemorate the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase and the Corp of
Discovery's two year journey.
He is a member of The Western Writers of America, The Alamo Society,
The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage
Foundation, The National Museum of the American Indian and The Arizona Historical Society.
