Ryley (ePub)

Al Dawson was raised on a small farm in the Northern Neck of Virginia, a peninsular surrounded not only by water but by history that encompasses the birth of this great nation, including the exciting figures of the Powhatan tribe and nation, Pocahontas, Captain John Smith, George Washington, Robert E. Lee, and so many others. Bullet holes in the walls of the local church, fired by Union soldiers, inspired his imagination as a youth, as did the exploits of distant relatives who fought in the War Between the States.

After a wonderful, even inspiring, education in the small local high school, Al attended the University of Richmond where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish with Phi Beta Kappa honors, then continued his studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received his Ph.D. He returned to his alma mater, the University of Richmond, to teach there for 34 years and with his wife to raise their two children, Eric and Sheila, both of whom continue to follow their parents professions as teachers and exponents of Spanish language and culture. After retirement, he and his wife Laila moved to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where his long ingrained love for the rich history of western frontier life, mining and ghost towns, cowboys and Indians (native Americans to us now) came to the fore. The beauty, mystery, and lore of the mountains, deserts, and plains captivate him and his imagination, encouraging him to render in word something of the magic of not only where he lives but the marvelous resiliency of human nature itself.