About the Author

Gail Ow is the author of Before Falcons Flew, a historical novel inspired by the life of her father, a Korean War–era U.S. Air Force aviation cadet who grew up in Hawaii.

What makes the story unusual is that she didn’t grow up hearing it. In fact, Gail didn’t know her father had been born on a sugar plantation—or much about his early life at all—until she began asking questions later in life.

What started as curiosity turned into a series of conversations that uncovered a much larger story about a generation of young men who came of age as aviation was shifting from propellers to jets.

Before Falcons Flew grew out of those conversations. It’s as much about discovery as it is about history—about what gets passed down, what doesn’t, and what can still be recovered if you ask.

Before turning to writing, Gail spent her career working in technology, focusing on areas like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and how complex systems shape the world around us. That background continues to influence her interest in moments of rapid change—whether in aviation decades ago or in technology today.

Writing and Technology Themes

Before Falcons Flew explores a time when preparing for war was often as dangerous as war itself.

For aviation cadets of that era, training meant flying aircraft whose systems were still evolving—where each flight carried real uncertainty. They were not only learning to fly; they were, in many ways, flying at the edge of what was known. Many did not make it through the program. Some washed out. Others were lost to accidents as they trained.

It’s a part of military history that is easy to overlook. We recognize the risks of combat, but less often the risks faced by those preparing for it—especially in a period when aviation was advancing faster than the systems, training, and safety measures could keep up.

That reality sits at the heart of Before Falcons Flew.

That same interest in periods of rapid change carries into Gail’s work in technology. In fields like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, she has focused on how new systems are often deployed before their full risks are understood.

Across both, she is drawn to the human side of change—what it means to move forward when the stakes are real and the path is still being defined.