Ward, Branan

Since he was a child, Branan Ward has always made a habit of running away from home in search of adventure.

Eight decades later, nothing has changed.

During the first half of his life, Ward was a hitchhiker, hobo, member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and merchant marine, World War II sailor, Alaskan pilot, tug boat skipper, and gold field worker, to name a few. Then he decided to go to college.

In 1950, he completed a master's degree in geography, with a minor in anthropology, from California State University at Los Angeles. He then spent thirty years teaching at the high school and...