William Manchee
On August 22, 1947 Manchee was born in the small Southern California
coastal town of Ventura. Bicycling, hiking, camping, fishing, traveling, baseball and tennis
occupied the bulk of his time when he wasn't attending school.
He attended Buena High School, graduating with honors in 1965. During this time he became
an Eagle Scout, earned the God and Country Award and was a Congressional Intern for
Congressman Charles M. Teague.
Determined to become a lawyer and go into politics, Manchee attended UCLA majoring in
political science. It was a tumultuous time with the Vietnam War raging and anti-war
protestors running rampant on most U.S. campuses. During the California primary elections
in 1968 Manchee went to the Ambassador Hotel to see Bobby Kennedy. Although a republican, he was intrigued by the Kennedy
mystique and wanted to see it first hand. Instead he witnessed the aftermath of the
Kennedy's assassination, watching Sirhan Sirhan's arrest and seeing Kennedy loaded into an
ambulance.
After marrying his high school sweetheart, Janet Mello, in 1969 he moved to San Diego for
one year while he attended the University of San Diego School of Law. After a brief duty
in the United States Marine Corps, he moved to Plano where his wife and two children were
staying with his in-laws. He immediately transferred to SMU Law School to complete his
legal training.
While in law school he and Janet both worked full time to support their family that had
grown by then to six. In his spare time, Manchee was active in the Republican Party
becoming Collin County Chairman in 1974-1976. This was the era where the Texas Republican
Party was a small but growing minority party. During his tenure the party elected its
first county officials including the Sheriff, a JP and county commissioner. Disillusioned
by political back stabbing and opportunism he withdrew from politics in
1976, deciding instead to concentrate on starting his new law practice and raising his
children.
After graduating from SMU Law School and receiving his Juris Doctor 1976 Manchee worked
for an insurance company for about six months before starting his law practice in Carillon
Towers in North Dallas in 1977. His practice started out primarily in estate planning and
business but soon bloomed into a general practice catering to the needs of the small
business owner. After five years he moved to present location in North Dallas' Park
Central area. He practices there today with his son, Jim.
Manchee's literary career began in 1995 when he started writing as a diversion
from his stressful law practice. It wasn't long before he realized writing was
his true passion in life. Between 1995 and 1997 he wrote eight novels, all of
which have now been published along with two recent ones for a total of
12 to date. He plans to publish at least
a book a year for the rest of his life.
