Robert Foley

Reverend Robert Foley is a member of the Tsalagi Waya Society of Kentucky, and the Intertribal Bear Society, dedicated to teaching and preserving many Native American customs and traditions.

As a young boy, Robert often visited elderly family members and friends with his grandmother. He listened keenly to their life stories, taking mental notes, and recording many of them.

He was the eldest child in the family, and like other children of the coal mining communities of the Appalachian Mountains, was assigned chores from an eary age. These chores evolved as he grew older. Children often worked for other families around the camps, and for the mines, to earn extra money. Many of these chores are vividly depicted in Robert's writing.

As an adult, Robert worked several jobs such as a logger, coal miner, sporting goods store clerk, and machinist. He owned and operated a long-haul trucking business, traveling in all lower 48 states of the U.S., throughout many parts of Canada, and Northern Mexico. On his journeys, he met countless people on whose stories he draws to inspire his writing.