Don Pusch will speak on the "The 1758–1759 Voyage of the French flûte Fortune, or How I got lost in the French navy while researching an east-Texas grandma." at the BAGS meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 30, 2003 at the University Baptist Church on Middlebrook in the Clear Lake area of Houston, TX.

Donald E. "Don" Pusch is a native of Houston, currently residing in El Lago, Texas. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University (BA, math) and the Air Force Institute of Technology (BS and MS, electrical engineering). He retired as a lieutenant colonel from the US Air Force in 1986 and went on to a career in the aerospace industry, serving in various management positions with Rockwell Space Operations Company and the United Space Alliance on the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs.

Don has been very active with the Clayton Library Friends since 1991, serving as newsletter editor (1992–2001), director (1992–1993), president (2000–2001), and treasurer (2002–2003).

His primary research interests are in the French colonies of North America, the French navy of the eighteenth century, and French archival source documents.

Don's publications and presentations include: Reflections, the newsletter of the Founders of Natchitoches (editor 1989-1993), The CLF Newsletter (editor 1992–2001), Selected Papers of Winston De Ville. Ville Platte, Louisiana: Provincial Press, 2000 (editor), Mississippi Valley Mélange, vol. 4. Ville Platte, Louisiana: Provincial Press, 2000 (coeditor with Winston de Ville), “Employees of the Marine in the Colony of Louisiana, 1759.” Louisiana Genealogical Register 47: 69-87 (September 2000), “The Capture of the Chariot Royal,” Le Réveil Acadien 18: 79-84 (November 2002), “The French flûte Fortune and her encounter with the slave ship Judy.” A talk given to the Paul Carrington Chapter SAR, Armed Forces Day, 2002, and The Naval Service Dossier of Jean-François Le Large (projected for fall 2003).

Don has in development the "Convoy to Louisiana: The Log of the French flûte Fortune, 1758–1759" (a complete English translation the Fortune's log book).

For more information about the meeting or the society call Dick Warren 281-461-1472.