Meet the Neurifact Characters
Dr. Nate Walters
In Neurifact, Dr. Nate Walters, the main Neurifact character, is a Florida Tech neuro-engineering professor and researcher, who is disciplined and committed to his research, but is also considerate to all of his Florida Tech team members. Nate is conducting research by recording fighter pilot brain waves along with all the pilot sensing and motor actions to detect any triggers for sudden impulsive actions that influence mission outcome. Nate is also a former Marine. I based Nate’s personality on a Florida Tech professor, Dr. Walter Nunn, with whom I worked as an undergraduate lab assistant from 1969-1971. Dr. Nunn, a WW-2 Marine, was not only a brilliant researcher in electromagnetic, he was very approachable and took time to assist his students, including me, in mastering the complexities of electromagnetic (Scholarship Information | Florida Tech (fit.edu)). And on many nights as I crossed the small Florida Tech campus I would see a lone 4th floor light on in the Crawford Science Building, spot Dr. Nunn’s blue VW Kharman Ghia as the sole car in the parking lot and know that he was alone doing his research work. Hear some more comments about Dr. Nunn in this attached video.
Captain Lance “Lancer” Patrick
In Neurifact, Captain Lance “Lancer” Patrick is the great-grandson of a WW-2 Tuskegee Airman P-51D combat pilot who was his mentor and encourager. Lancer is committed to his profession of flying and, at age 28, is totally focused on being the best F-35C pilot in the Marine Corps. I based Captain Lancer Patrick’s personality on my good friend, Lance Brazelton. Although not a pilot, Lance is an author, actor, and artist whom I’ve known since he was in high school. Lance is a talented and committed author who, unlike Captain Lancer Patrick, grew up fatherless and published his first book, What Daddy Didn’t Know - Letters of a Fatherless Child ( Amazon.com: What Daddy Didn't Know: Letters of a Fatherless Child: 9780692644010: Brazelton, Lance: Books ) at age 20. In 2017, I told Lance that I was contemplating authoring a novel that would feature a fighter pilot, whom I would name “Lance”. Hear more about Lance Patrick and Lance Brazelton in this linked video.
Dr. Lindsey Baron
In Neurifact, the character Dr. Lindsey Baron, is a postdoctoral neuro-engineering researcher assisting the main character, Dr. Nate Walters, in his Navy sponsored research in monitoring fighter pilot brain wave activity associated with sensing or sudden impulses that trigger atypical maneuver responses leading to positive mission outcomes. Lindsey is 28 years old and holds a PhD. In Neuro-Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. She is committed to completing her postdoctoral fellowship and securing a professorship or industry position before entering any romantic relationship, but that commitment will change in the Neurifact story. I based my character Lindsey Baron on the personality (and talent and beauty) of my niece, Dr. Margaret Byron, now a Mechanical Engineering professor at Penn State University ME Directory | Penn State Engineering (psu.edu). I watched Margaret grow up and embark on her engineering education at Princeton (BSME) and UC Berkley (MS & PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering) and her postdoctoral research fellowship at UC Irvine. Margaret was a focused and committed student and researcher and became engaged while pursuing her PhD., but did not get married until after she embarked on her Postdoc fellowship. Hear more about Lindsey and Margaret in the linked video.
Dr. Murray Phillips
In Neurifact, the character Dr. Murray Phillips has a PhD. in New Testament Greek and is the pastor of the main character, Dr. Nate Walters. Murray is also a member with Nate of a Christian accountability trio that meets weekly for breakfast, the third trio member being an MD Psychiatrist. This trio comically refers to themselves as the “Mini-Trinity” or mini-trini, and Murray provides scriptural and spiritual corroboration to Nate on his detected neurological artifact, or “Neurifact,” phenomenon associated with pilot Lancer Patrick’s sudden impulsive maneuvers. I based the personality and scriptural knowledge of my character Dr, Murray Phillips, on my dear friend, Dr. Murray Wilton, a pastor and Christian business leader and mentor. Since 2008, I have taken part in a weekly Bible study led by Murray Wilton, where he has frequently unpacked and explained scriptures surrounding the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Hear more about Dr. Murray Phillips and Dr. Murray Wilton in this linked video.
Allen Walters
In Neurifact, Allen Walters is the older brother of the main character, Dr. Nate Walters. Allen suffers from the terminal neuromotor disease, Multiple System Atrophy, or MSA and in the story, is in the last two months of his life. Allen is a very successful attorney whose life is being cut short by this disease. Nate visits with his brother frequently and in the last few days of his life, Allen agrees to let Nate instrument his brain when he dies to corroborate another death-recorded phenomenon Nate has observed. I based the character Allen Walters on my own older brother Allen Watts, who I lost to MSA in 2015. When I set out to write Neurifact, I somehow wanted to dedicate the novel to Allen, and the story describes the end of his life. Chapter 8 explicitly describes a day in November 2014 that I spent with Allen video-taping us describing our lives growing up together and then accompanying Allen to a ceremony where he received a lifetime achievement award from his attorney peers. Hear some of that video of Allen and me in the linked video here.
Mack Walters
In Neurifact, Mack Walters is the nephew of the main character, Dr. Nate Walters and the son of Nate’s terminally ill brother, Allen Walters. Mack, like Allen, is an attorney who is supporting Allen in his last months and keeping Nate updated on Allen’s condition. I based Mack’s personality and activities on my nephew and Allen Watts’s son, Mark Watts. Chapter 8 of Neurifact describes a day when the character Nate visits his brother Allen, and Mack and Nate take Allen to a dinner where he receives a lifetime achievement award. That was a real-world day in November 2015 where Mark Watts, Allen Watts and I actually attended that very moving ceremony that I capture explicitly in Neurifact. Here Mark Watts in this linked video describing his life as the son of Allen Watts and the way Allen lived his life until the very end.