KING CITY — “South to Alaska,” a book written by the late J.T. Rethke, has recently been published and is available to the public following his untimely death in 2023.
John Thomas Rethke was a resident of King City for more than 20 years. He worked as an engineer at Basic Vegetable Company until it closed in 2000.
After that, he worked at King City Glass and then later moved to Monterey, where he retired and spent about five years working on his book. He was a member of the Central Coast Writers group that encouraged writers on the Monterey Peninsula.
“South to Alaska, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” is a memoir about the summer that Rethke spent working for the Fairbanks Air Service in Alaska in 1972 before his senior year in college. It was the start of his life-long interest in aviation, including time as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force.
For many years, he stored his airplane at the Mesa Del Rey Airport in King City.
Recommendations for the book are written by Lt. Col. Steven Bogert, a USAF pilot and Fed Ex 767 first officer who grew up in King City, as well as Wayne Handley, well-known Monterey County aviator and air show performer who was a mentor to Rethke.
The book was edited by Vournee Nolte of King City.
Rethke was preparing to publish his book in December 2023 when he died in an automobile accident while returning from Lake Tahoe to his home on the Monterey Peninsula.
It is now available for purchase on Amazon.com.
