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This site was created by Brenda and Steve Huettner of Tucson, Arizona, with the help and support of the Franck family. Steve is Harry A. Franck's grandson.
On the release of Winter Journey through the Ninth, some 45 years after it was written.
On Harry Franck's journey around the world, well before any "Around the World" movie was released!
For more information how this all came about, see
"Bringing Words to Life", the gripping tale of how Winter Journey through the Ninth came to be published by Prince of the Road Press (including why we called it "Prince of the Road Press"!) The Stevens Indicator is the alumni magazine of Stevens Institute of Technology.
"Military Book is a 'Keeper'" by Bonnie Henry, in the Arizona Daily Star, highlighting the efforts by a number of Tucsonans including Brenda and Steve to help get Winter Journey published.
And of course, there's the biography of Harry Franck, the list of books he wrote, and a Frequently Asked Questions page.
These images are purposely small so that they load quickly online. If you want higher-resolution images, simply write to Brenda@harryafranck.com and we'll try to get you what you need. We can also provide higher-resolution images for anything you see elsewhere on this site.
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Here's Harry A. Franck as a young man. One day some friends of his were complaining that they would love to travel, but simply didn't have the money, when Harry claimed that he could travel around the world without spending a dime. He later went on to "girdle the globe without money, weapons, or baggage" and eventually to write his first book, A Vagabond Journey Around the World, published in 1910. He was 28 years old in 1909, about the time of this picture. Looks pretty dapper, doesn't he? |
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Harry in 1919 as a Cavalry officer at around 38 years old. |
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This was taken in 1922, in Chosen China. Harry Franck made most of his travels on foot, hence the nickname "Prince of Vagabonds". |
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Harry Franck was often asked to help others learn to travel. In this case, he was leading a tour group to Java abord the Dollar Steamship Line in 1929. |
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Noted traveler explains new way to see the World! And yes, the noted traveler is our own Harry A. Franck. In this case, he isn't actually taking the cruise, just explaining how this "new way" works. Essentially, people would buy a round-the-world ticket for passag on the Dollar Steamship Line, and would then have the right to get on or off at any port, and stay as long as they wanted to at each port, as long as the entire trip took less than 2 years. Also 1929. |
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This was an ad for (obviously) the book "Trailing Cortez through Mexico." It's a great book, but not really his greatest (as this ad implies. |
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Portrait of Major Harry Franck, about the time he was writing Winter Journey through the Ninth (1944-1945), by this time in his mid-60s. He described himself as "the world's oldest Major." |
Harry becomes a police officer in the Panama Canal Zone, from Zone Policeman 88
Harry goes for a ride on an A-26
Harry visits "Bombay"
"This
book is an absolute gem! Harry Franck's efforts cover the Ins and Outs of
the largest Tactical Air Force ever conceived from Normandy to the end of
the war in Europe. Here, one will find what the landscape offered, what
the civilians, as well as the military thought about what they were doing
and a series of detailed explanations of how Ninth Air Force was organized
and operated. Franck pulls no punches in any of his observations and that
is particularly valuable to scholar and buff alike in these days of political
correctness. The reader will be rewarded with information that usually must
be gleaned from multiple sources, including the intricacies of close air
support, an art that had to be relearned over again in Korea and in Viet
Nam! Franck's genius is his ability to give the reader the feeling of 'being
there.' This is not a re-telling of how Germany was strategically pounded
from the air, rather observations on the Air organization that moved with
the ground troops and often died helping them push through to victory. This
book is a Keeper!"
--Hoyt
S. Vandenberg, Jr.
--Major General, USAF (Ret.)
"In
sum, this book is a firsthand account of the American tactical air war in
France during the last months of World War II by a careful, experienced,
nonflying observer. The author conveys both the spirit of the day and details
available nowhere else, giving us feelings and facts about the last months
of the war from an American perspective.
... Winter Journey offers refreshing and often critical views on
some familiar subjects while adding a number of interesting details. As
such, students of tactical airpower in World War II should consider this
book a “must” addition to their libraries."
--Kenneth P. Werrell
--Aerospace Power Journal, Winter 2001
Entire Review by Mr. Werrell, Aerospace Power Journal
Review by CDT Brian Anthony, West Point
Review in "Marauder Thunder", May 2001
Review in "Michigan Today" (University of Michigan, Harry's Alma Mater)
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