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Malcolm MacGruer: A Tale of China, Commandos, and Crosswords

Operating behind enemy lines in mainland China during World War II (WWII), Marine Corps veteran Malcolm MacGruer knew his extraordinary experiences were the making of a novel long before he sat down to write it. Since retiring to Madison in 1990, he's finally found the time to complete not just the one book, but a trilogy-the first in the series, Horse-Horse, Tiger-Tiger, is based upon his time serving with the Second Chinese Commando Army, which was led by (here, you'll think you've confused the author's biography on the back cover with the story summary on the inside cover) "the unscrupulous spy-master Tai Li."

"I was selected to go on extra hazardous duty behind the Japanese lines on mainland China with the Second Chinese Commando Army," says Malcolm, who enlisted with the Marine Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. "'Horse-horse, tiger-tiger' is the phrase [in Mandarin] that's used to mean 'neither one nor the other.' We were sent over there to do certain things and what we thought we were going to do wasn't what we did."

From rescuing pilots who were shot down in occupied territory to disrupting Japanese operations "as much as possible," Malcolm spent almost two years in China. Although he learned to speak Mandarin, the image he presented out in the countryside-a six-foot-tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed American-belied the fact so much that the natives refused to believe they could understand him.

"I was referred to as a 'foreign devil,'" he says. "Their eyes would tell their ears that they didn't understand" me.

This theory was backed up when Malcolm encountered a blind woman on an isolated mountain road; she had no difficulty understanding him when he asked for directions.

"She couldn't see me so she didn't know she couldn't hear me," he explains.

After the war, Malcolm returned home to upstate New York and married his wife of many years, Margaret, affectionately known as "Pegret." Plans to write about his experiences were delayed by two children, Duncan and Amanda, and a successful full-time career in marketing and communications. His work brought him on numerous trips across the country and finally to Greenwich, Connecticut, where the family resided until Malcolm's retirement and subsequent move to his seaside home in Madison.

Three books later-Horse-Horse, Tiger Tiger (1994), Keepsake Echo (2004), and Ricochet (currently in the hands of an editor)-Malcolm has no plans to stop writing.

"Once I got started on this I couldn't stop," he says. "It was easy because I'd done a lot of business writing and I've written a lot of short stuff for myself and the children.

"You have to write when you are moved to write," adds Malcolm, who is rewarded by letters from readers and requests for lectures. "Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and write."

A wordsmith in more than one way, Malcolm also enjoys solving crosswords-and creating them for others to solve.

"The crossword puzzle audience is changing," he says. "People like me who understand history and all these things couldn't possibly tell you who the Emmy winner was in 2002."

You need to bring a sense of humor to Malcolm's puzzles. Stuck with an inconvenient "A" where he needed an "E" for the word "exerciser," he decided to switch the word to "axerciser" with the clue "one who works out by splitting wood."

Malcolm's creativity isn't limited to the written word. In the days before his wife's death, he constructed a greeting card for her each night and painting and sketching have played an important role in his life. A member of the Madison Winter Club for more than 20 years, his most recent project was assembling war-time remembrance displays for the club's Memorial Day Dinner. And earlier this week, Malcolm celebrated his history as a veteran in another way-you might have spotted him on Monday morning marching with his fellow veterans in Madison's Memorial Day Parade.

To nominate a person of the week, call 203-245-1877, ext. 6146 or email j.matteis@shorepublishing.com.

Horse-Horse, Tiger-Tiger and Keepsake Echo are available at the Scranton Library, 801 Boston Post Road, and through sellers at www.amazon.com.