Alfred W. Bates retired from the United States Army as Chief Warrant Officer, CWO4, and also from Federal Civil Service. During his service, he wrote many documents, operating procedures, and assisted in authoring logistical regulations. After retirement, he worked as a tour guide for two summers in the Umpqua River Lighthouse at Winchester Bay, Oregon where he gained valuable knowledge of this lighthouse and its history. His work there provided him inspiration and imagination to write this fictional novel, Spirit of The Lighthouse, which is a sequel to his previous book, The Wickie. Alfred resides in San Antonio, TX, and since 2011 has also written a blog, which features the more than three hundred lighthouses he has visited throughout the U.S and three Provinces in Canada. His blog is: AlsLighthouses.blogspot.com. During the past ten years, he also authored numerous seasonal short stories which are published and distributed throughout the U.S.