About Ray Kania
Kania, a former Vietnamese/Thai-Lao interpreter, was the senior coordinator (USAFSS) for National Security Agency intelligence gathering missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. During this period, as a personal project, he collected information that would lead to an ethnography of the So people of Northeast Thailand. Included in the study is a phonetic alphabet, the first for this spoken language. (Documentation)
As a licensed private investigator in the early 1980s he worked undercover for a NASA contractor.
As a Marshallese police officer, he was directly involved with operations against Russian (Soviet) special forces units at Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands from 1986-1988. (Documentation)
Kania also worked on a contract for the Air Force Space Command at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and later as a federal officer at Kennedy Space Center, protecting the space shuttle, astronauts and KSC facilities.
He has written about a number of diverse subjects as a result of his travels and eclectic interests. They include: Southeast Asia (politics, sociology, and language), sports, physical fitness, nature, Pacific Islanders, intelligence gathering, and human interest.
He has participated in several sports (primarily basketball and soccer) at several levels, from college to a prison league. Along the way he has collected BA degrees in philosophy and political science from the University of Central Florida. Among his language skills are a working knowledge or better (speaking, reading and writing) of Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese and Arabic. (little or no active use for over 15 years.)
Visit Ray’s site TheSouthernBlog.com
ALMOST PARADISE (Published: Sep. 09, 2011, ISBN: 9781465944597) This journal was kept from 1986-88 when the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse but their presence at Kwajalein was intense, requiring critical decisions at the highest level of our government. |
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KAMPUCHEA, YEAR ZERO (Published: Jan. 14, 2012, ISBN: 9781465874870) “Kampuchea, Year Zero” is my interview of a young Cambodian girl who survived nearly 4 years of Pol Pot, communist leader of the Khmer Rouge. |
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GERONIMO LIVE! And Other Florida Stories (Published: Feb. 18, 2012, ISBN: 9781466002456) Real places and People of the Sunshine State; “GERONIMO LIVE! And Other Florida Stories” covers the overlooked, sometimes unusual history of the Sunshine State. |
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Seniors’ Corner: For a Better Life (Published: May 11, 2012, ISBN: 9781476055664) After decades of overdoing it, pushing beyond my limits and stumbling full speed ahead through hazards of all kinds, I’ve finally decided to reign in my competitive nature and take a more measured pace through the rest of life. It’s time to slow down and smell the liniment. FOR A BETTER LIFE has 21 articles that will benefit those who are moving into the next classification, senior citizen. |
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Edgar’s Studebaker — And Other Memorable Stories (Published: Aug. 17, 2012, ISBN: 9781476188935) A look at the serious and not so serious events in life, from “The Last Can Opener” to “Smiley”, the images are from real people, places, and events. |