The Essen journalist Wulf Mämpel worked for 40 years as an editor in a leading position at the publishing house of the WAZ, 33 of which as local manager in Essen. Today he is active as a journalist, moderator and book author. Mämpel was the founder and for 30 years chairman of the board of the "Freundeskreis Theater und Philharmonie" in Essen. Sir Francis Drake's memoirs are his fifth historical novel, and he has written a total of 20 books, including a crime novel.