Charles Ota Heller is the author of Prague: My Long Journey Home (A Memoir of Survival, Denial, and Redemption) -- published in December 2011 by Abbott Press. Heller is a well-known, successful businessman, investor, and teacher. He is working on two follow-on memoirs with the working titles of Cowboy from Prague and Ready, Fire, Aim: A Tale of Entrepreneurial Terror, as well as a book on entrepreneurship aimed at young people.
Although writing has not been his primary profession until recently, Charlie has spent a large proportion of his life as an author. His writing obsession began in post-war refugee camps, where he kept a journal – in the Czech language – of his family’s adventures. His first writing in English for public consumption came as sports editor of his high-school newspaper. Later, he defied the stereotype perception of a pocket-proctector-wearing engineering student, not only by earning an athletic scholarship, but by taking all his electives in the art of writing. He became a columnist, then story editor, and eventually editor, of the Oklahoma State Engineer magazine, which was named the “Best College Magazine” in the nation under his leadership.

Later, while running software companies, he led a not-so-secret “second life” for nearly 20 years as a columnist for the Baltimore News-American, Daily Record, The Public Enterprise, The Capital, and Washington Business Journal newspapers. Additionally, he authored a technical book (published by Elsevier) and a number of freelance magazine articles on business, entrepreneurship, skiing, and sailing.  

With the exception of occasional management consulting assignments and service on several boards of directors, he is now a full-time writer. In the past, he has been: a venture capitalist – Director of Athlone Global Security and General Partner of Gabriel Venture Partners; an academic – Director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland and Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy; an entrepreneur – co-founder and CEO of two software companies, Intercad Corporation and CADCOM, Inc.; and an engineer – involved in pioneer design work in America’s early space program.