Gravengood, Mark
From Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki
Mark Gravengood, is a major character in Rocinante and appears in many other stories in the Spearfish Lake Tales. He is the son of Phil Gravengood and husband of Jackie Archer, his mother is not named, but dies in December 1994FtS1. His father worked for the little locally owned phone system in Spearfish Lake and also flew airplanes, so by the time Mark graduated High School, he was already a pilot and knew something about phones. After graduating, he joined the Army with plans of grabbing phone system experience and training. He would have loved to fly in the Army, but his eyesight was below a pilot's minimum and it was all helicopters in the Army. He is also an avid amateur astronomer and ground his own mirror for a home-made telescope.
When asked Mark is always vague about his Army service, but he is a Vietnam Vet (82nd Airborne, 1967 and 68). He has been heard saying his time there was boring, with the exception of Tet in 1968 (according to Gil Evachevski in Absent Friend the medals that he occasionally wears tell a different story). He subsequently spent some time in Germany before leaving the army in the spring of 1970, just before the start of Rocinante.
Wes's first book, Rocinante is the story of Mark and Jackie's courtship & marriage - they had the honeymoon before the marriage ceremony!
The couple has lived on Busted Axle Road since 1972. The Gravengoods and their neighbors the McMahons are close friends.
Mark started out with the local independent telephone company in Spearfish Lake, but after they were bought out he took retirement and started Marlin Computer along with a local ISP for Spearfish Lake.
Mark enjoys flying, including sailplanes, and dogsledding.
