Laraine Denny Burrell was born and raised in England and at sixteen won a full scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dancing in London, England. Burrell spent many years living and working all over the world, performing as a professional dancer, singer, and actress. Eventually, she moved to the United States to join the cast of what was then the largest stage show in the world, Hello Hollywood Hello, at the MGM Grand in Reno, Nevada. After retiring as a performer, she went on to obtain three academic degrees, including a law degree. Burrell currently practices as an intellectual property attorney and litigator for a well-established law firm in Washington State. She has written many law-related articles for legal, trade, and general publications. Her short story “The Perfect Crime” was published in Woman’s World Magazine.

Laraine Burrell gets the call to come back to England from the United States just in time to visit briefly with her father before he passes away. Following his death, she is overcome with grief, feeling that she has squandered the time she had with her father. Instead of staying close, she chose to travel the world and seek her own goals as a young woman, always thinking there would be time later on to tell her dad all the things she wanted to tell him―how much she loved him, and how he was her hero. Now, she realizes, it’s too late.

Wanting to do something significant for her father to make up for her neglect, Burrell reflects on the fascinating life her father, a Royal Yachtsman, led―and decides that the one thing she can do for him is to tell his exceptional life story and make sure he is not forgotten. Our Grand Finale is the culmination of that effort―an exploration of both the author’s and her father’s unusual life experiences, and a reminder that “later” doesn’t always come.