{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 46: Books and book'n'em with Alan Hardwick","description":"What do police officer, adopted son, milkman, cheese cutter, fur trapper and international terrorism have in common? They have all been part of Alan Hardwick\u2019s life. Hardwick is author of \u201cNever Been This Close to Crazy,\u201d the Edmonds Police sergeant\u2019s first novel, which was published in June this year. Hardwick\u2019s 28-year law-enforcement career has touched a number of important areas. Hardwick started in Idaho and founded the Boise Police Department\u2019s Criminal Intelligence Unit. He\u2019s now a member of the FBI\u2019s North Sound Counterterrorism Working Group and was a founding member of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force the Everett Resident agency. Hardwick has served as lead case agent for dozens of international terrorism investigations. \u201cThe book a picture of a man, a police officer and his sudden thrust into the life of a single father,\u201d Hardwick says. While the character is raising five children while being a police officer doing counterterrorism, Hardwick says the plot is not autobiographical. \u201cThe story bleeds far beyond my own experience,\u201d Hardwick says. \u201cBut I do have a lot of raw data to work from.\u201d Despite just publishing a novel, Hardwick says his first passion is music. He studied music theory, composition and education before moving toward his career in law enforcement. Hardwick is one-third of the group One Love Bridge, which includes Ricardo Valenzuela and Mark Pendolino. The group performs original music and rock covers in the Edmonds area, including at Taste Edmonds! \u201cI became a musician, at least partly, when my mother bought me my first instrument for my second birthday which was a cymbal,\u201d Hardwick says of his adoptive mother. As for his father, Hardwick says, \u201cMy dad was a milkman for Darigold.\u201d Eventually, the company offered his father a job in Chehalis at the cheese factory. \u201cI got to say my dad cut cheese for living,\u201d he says. \u201cHe never really liked that job,\u201d Hardwick says, which prompted a career switch to being a fur trapper in rural Lewis County. \u201cI was the only kid in my school that had to float the river in the morning to check the trap line before going to school.\u201d Episode length: 1:07:54 ","author_name":"Check It Out!","author_url":"https:\/\/podcast.sno-isle.org\/","html":"