About Our Authors
THE LAST MISSILE SITE AUTHORS
John A. Martini is a native Californian and a life-long researcher into the history of the American West. A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Martini worked as a National Park Ranger for more than twenty-five years at such diverse locations as Fort Point National Historic Site, Alcatraz Island, the National Maritime Museum, the U.S.S. Arizona National Memorial, the Presidio of San Francisco, and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site. He retired from the National Park Service in 1999 and now serves as a professional researcher and historical consultant.
Martini's is an acknowledged expert on America's coastal defenses and consults with numerous state and federal agencies on the restoration of seacoast fortifications and artillery pieces.
Martini's published works include Fort Point: Sentry at the Golden Gate, Fortress Alcatraz, The Official Guide to the Presidio of San Francisco, and Alcatraz At War. His articles have appeared in American Heritage Magazine, The Civil War Chronicles, After the Battle Magazine, and the National Archives' quarterly journal Prologue. He appears frequently on documentaries for The History Channel, A&E Network, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and PBS affiliates.
Stephen A. Haller is the Park Historian and Branch Chief for Cultural Resources at Golden Gate 
National Recreation Area. Formerly the Curator of Historic Documents for the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, he has also been an interpreter at a number of historic San Francisco Bay Area sites, including Alcatraz, Fort Point, and the Maritime Museum. Haller's academic background is in 19th century American history; he specializes in the study of shipwrecks, military history, and historic landscapes in the Bay Area.
Haller is the author of Post and Park: A Brief Illustrated History of the Presidio of San Francisco and The Last Word in Airfields: San Francisco's Crissy Field; coauthor of Shipwrecks at the Golden Gate; and former editor of the Sea Letter, the journal of the National Maritime Museum Association. He served as principal investigator for World War II oral history projects at the U.S.S. Arizona National Memorial and the War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam. Haller coauthored the Seacoast Fortification Preservation Manual for Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which received the California Preservation Foundation's 2000 Design Award.
RINGS OF SUPERSONIC STEEL AUTHORS
Mark L. Morgan has spent the past 33 years as a Naval officer, intelligence specialist, aerospace operations research analyst, National Park Service historian/ranger
, journalist and high-tech analyst/writer, leading up to his hopefully "final" career move as a Department of Defense civilian historian. He developed an interest in Cold War systems and operations during the early 1980s and since then has pursued everything from coast defenses to radar/C2 facilities, air defense missile systems, former military aviation facilities and ICBMs. A member of a multitude of professional and history organizations, Mark has authored two other books besides Rings of Supersonic Steel including a history of his old airplane, the Grumman A-6 Intruder. He currently lives in the St Louis, Missouri area.
Mark A. Berhow is a research chemist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, currently at the National Center for Agricultu
ral Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois. Mark's avid interest in military history has led himto research extensively on topics concerned with American seacoast artillery defenses and American antiaircraft defenses. An active member of several historical organizations, he has authored four books on American military defenses and more than 80 scientific articles and book chapters. Mark's latest book was US Strategic and Defensive Missile Systems 1950–2004.
FORT BAKER THROUGH TIME AUTHORS
Kristin L. Baron is the Architectural Historian for Cultural Resources at Golden Gate National Recreation Area and has worked for the National Park Service for 20 years.
Kristin was originally a member of the Presidio Planning Team where she worked extensively on planning documents, building physical histories and special history publications. At Golden Gate, she works on cultural resource projects, including writing historic building reports, website content and compliance documents for several park sites including Fort Mason, Fort Baker, Fort Barry and Fort Cronkhite.
Kristin’s published works includes The Presidio of San Francisco: An Architectural History and five self-guided park walking tours, including Fort Barry; An Army Post Standing Guard over the Marin Headlands and Fort Mason; An Army Post at the Edge of San Francisco. She was closely involved in the Cavallo Point rehabilitation and Fort Baker remains one of her favorite sites within the park.
John A. Martini is a native Californian and a life-long researcher into the history of the American West. A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Martini worked as a National Park Ranger
for more than twenty-five years at such diverse locations as Fort Point National Historic Site, Alcatraz Island, the National Maritime Museum, the U.S.S. Arizona National Memorial, the Presidio of San Francisco, and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site. He retired from the National Park Service in 1999 and now serves as a professional researcher and historical consultant.
Martini's is an acknowledged expert on America's coastal defenses and consults with numerous state and federal agencies on the restoration of seacoast fortifications and artillery pieces.
Martini's published works include Fort Point: Sentry at the Golden Gate, Fortress Alcatraz, The Official Guide to the Presidio of San Francisco, and Alcatraz At War. His articles have appeared in American Heritage Magazine, The Civil War Chronicles, After the Battle Magazine, and the National Archives' quarterly journal Prologue. He appears frequently on documentaries for The History Channel, A&E Network, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and PBS affiliates.