Michael French Metcalf is an eleventh-generation descendant of Michael Metcalf, the dornix weaver. Raised in Concord, Massachusetts (near Dedham), he was educated at Middlesex School in Concord and at the University of Pennsylvania; he also served in the U.S. Navy. He received masters and PhD degrees in civil engineering from Stanford University. After a long career in the petroleum industry, he entered public service for the town of Moraga, California, his home for many years. This book is his third family history; the first was Inklings: John Wilkins Carter and The Carter's Ink Company.