Still Waters
The Life and Legacy of WWII Fighter Pilot
Howard L. King
For some, still waters run deep.
Some people don't need to tell you who they are. They show you — in how they show up, how closely they listen, and how steadily they carry the people they love. Howard L. King was one of those people — a man who kept a private room inside himself, reserved for what he'd lived through, and let the rest of his life speak for him. This is the story of the son who found the door, and the family who walked through it with him.
Available in hardcover, paperback, and eBook.
Order Now!
Available here and wherever bestelling books are sold.
Still Waters
The Life and Legacy of WWII Fighter Pilot Howard L. King
For some, still waters run deep.
Some people don't need to tell you who they are. They show you — in how they show up, how closely they listen, and how steadily they carry the people they love. Howard L. King was one of those people — a man who kept a private room inside himself, reserved for what he'd lived through, and let the rest of his life speak for him. This is the story of the son who found the door, and the family who walked through it with him.
Available in hardcover, paperback,
and eBook.
Available Now!
Available here and wherever bestelling books are sold.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
A son's journey to know his father more fully.
Robert King grew up knowing his father as steady, warm, and endlessly interested in other people's stories — far more than his own. Howard wasn't a man who kept secrets. He was simply a quiet, reserved presence who never felt the need to draw attention to himself.
It wasn't until after his mother passed that Rob found a small diary tucked among her belongings. Inside the cover was a photograph of a young man in a military dress jacket. His father — a man Rob had known his whole life, and yet had never fully known.
That discovery became the beginning of a journey: gathering letters, records, and memories to understand the fuller shape of his father's story — a young man from the Okanogan who left home for the skies of war, and who carried what he experienced there with quiet, steady strength for the rest of his life.
Still Waters is where that journey led.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
A son's journey to know his father more fully.
Robert King grew up knowing his father as steady, warm, and endlessly interested in other people's stories — far more than his own. Howard wasn't a man who kept secrets. He was simply a quiet, reserved presence who never felt the need to draw attention to himself.
It wasn't until after his mother passed that Rob found a small diary tucked among her belongings. Inside the cover was a photograph of a young man in a military dress jacket. His father — a man Rob had known his whole life, and yet had never fully known.
That discovery became the beginning of a journey: gathering letters, records, and memories to understand the fuller shape of his father's story — a young man from the Okanogan who left home for the skies of war, and who carried what he experienced there with quiet, steady strength for the rest of his life.
Still Waters is where that journey led.
THE PRIVATE ROOM
Some things aren't hidden.
They're held.
Howard wasn't a man with something to hide. He simply kept a private room inside himself — a place where he held what he'd lived through, so he could give his full attention to the people in front of him instead.
For most of his life, that room stayed closed. Not out of secrecy, but out of quiet, deliberate strength.
It took a diary, kept in his own hand in the middle of the war and tucked away for decades after, to finally open the door.
What Rob found there wasn't a confession. It was a gift — a way into a room he never knew existed, and a fuller understanding of the father he thought he already knew completely.
Still Waters invites readers into that same room: to sit with a young man far from home, to understand what shaped the father and uncle he became, and to feel — page by page — what it means when a family is finally given the chance to know someone more completely.
THE PRIVATE ROOM
Some things aren't hidden.
They're held.
Howard wasn't a man with something to hide. He simply kept a private room inside himself — a place where he held what he'd lived through, so he could give his full attention to the people in front of him instead.
For most of his life, that room stayed closed. Not out of secrecy, but out of quiet, deliberate strength.
It took a diary, kept in his own hand in the middle of the war and tucked away for decades after, to finally open the door.
What Rob found there wasn't a confession. It was a gift — a way into a room he never knew existed, and a fuller understanding of the father he thought he already knew completely.
Still Waters invites readers into that same room: to sit with a young man far from home, to understand what shaped the father and uncle he became, and to feel — page by page — what it means when a family is finally given the chance to know someone more completely.
WHY THIS BOOK EXISTS
A story preserved by family, for family.
As Rob gathered letters, records, and a wartime journal Howard kept in 1943, he began to see the fuller shape of his father's life — and knew it was a story worth preserving. He shared what he'd found with his cousin, Alan O. King, Howard's nephew, and together they set out to shape it into a memoir.
Along the way, members of their extended family contributed their own memories and stories, and reviewed the manuscript as it took form — each one adding another piece to the picture of who Howard was.
Still Waters is the family's answer to a question every family eventually asks:
What do we owe the people who came before us — and what happens if we never ask them?
THE HEART OF THE BOOK
- Family — A father, a son, and a nephew connected across generations by memory, loss, and love.
- The Past, Preserved — Letters, photographs, and a 1943 journal that might otherwise have been lost to time.
- Wisdom, Passed Down — What one man's private room, and the gift of finally opening its door, can teach the family that comes after him.
Still Waters is more than one man's wartime story. It is a meditation on what we inherit from the people who raised us — the parts they showed us, and the parts they quietly kept — and an invitation to open the door in our own families before it's too late.
WHY THIS BOOK EXISTS
A story preserved by family, for family.
As Rob gathered letters, records, and a wartime journal Howard kept in 1943, he began to see the fuller shape of his father's life — and knew it was a story worth preserving. He shared what he'd found with his cousin, Alan O. King, Howard's nephew, and together they set out to shape it into a memoir.
Along the way, members of their extended family contributed their own memories and stories, and reviewed the manuscript as it took form — each one adding another piece to the picture of who Howard was.
Still Waters is the family's answer to a question every family eventually asks:
What do we owe the people who came before us — and what happens if we never ask them?
THE HEART OF THE BOOK
- Family — A father, a son, and a nephew connected across generations by memory, loss, and love.
- The Past, Preserved — Letters, photographs, and a 1943 journal that might otherwise have been lost to time.
- Wisdom, Passed Down — What one man's private room, and the gift of finally opening its door, can teach the family that comes after him.
Still Waters is more than one man's wartime story. It is a meditation on what we inherit from the people who raised us — the parts they showed us, and the parts they quietly kept — and an invitation to open the door in our own families before it's too late.
THREE THINGS THIS BOOK WILL LEAVE YOU WITH
The Power of Family
A story that moves across generations — proof that the people who came before us are never as far away as they seem.
Preserving Memories
A firsthand account, built from real letters and a real wartime journal, given a permanent home before it could be lost to time.
Learning from the Past
A reminder that everyone we love keeps a private room of their own — and that asking to see inside it, while we still can, is a gift worth giving.
Features Howard King's actual journal entries and first-accounts from family members.
THREE THINGS THIS BOOK WILL LEAVE YOU WITH
The Power of Family
A story that moves across generations — proof that the people who came before us are never as far away as they seem.
Preserving Memories
A firsthand account, built from real letters and a real wartime journal, given a permanent home before it could be lost to time.
Learning from the Past
A reminder that everyone we love keeps a private room of their own — and that asking to see inside it, while we still can, is a gift worth giving.
Features Howard King's actual journal entries and first-accounts from family members.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Robert King
Alan O. King
Al King is a Christian, husband, father, grandfather, a Professional Engineer, a FAA Certified Flight Instructor, a NRA certified Handgun Instructor, and the nephew of Howard King.
An accomplished engineer of 50+ years, in no small part due to the influence of his uncle, Al worked on many major projects, such as the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Al has 3,000+ hours in aircraft from the Super Cub to the C-17, flying over much of the western US, British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska.
To find his uncle’s “hidden” life was a look into the man he always admired and saw as the quiet but competent engineer, who was always so kind to his own sons, that gave a much better understanding of who he was and why he responded to life so calmly.
Al’s focus now is on his wife of 58 years, Linda, his sons Troy and Chip, and grandkids, and encouraging all to understand history, that we never repeat disastrous events in human history like WWII.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Robert King
Alan O. King
Al King is a Christian, husband, father, grandfather, a Professional Engineer, a FAA Certified Flight Instructor, a NRA certified Handgun Instructor, and the nephew of Howard King.
An accomplished engineer of 50+ years, in no small part due to the influence of his uncle, Al worked on many major projects, such as the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Al has 3,000+ hours in aircraft from the Super Cub to the C-17, flying over much of the western US, British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska.
To find his uncle’s “hidden” life was a look into the man he always admired and saw as the quiet but competent engineer, who was always so kind to his own sons, that gave a much better understanding of who he was and why he responded to life so calmly.
Al’s focus now is on his wife of 58 years, Linda, his sons Troy and Chip, and grandkids, and encouraging all to understand history, that we never repeat disastrous events in human history like WWII.