Nick Wright, a third generation Arkansan born in Arkadelphia and raised in Benton, is a retired educator, high school basketball coach, and athletics director. He received his Bachelor's degree from what is now Henderson State University and spent a summer as resident instructor with the Job Corps before moving to Brevard County, Florida. He has a master's degree in educational administration from Stetson University. He is a past-president of the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association and served on its board of directors for thirty years. After a satisfying thirty-year career with the Brevard County School system Wright retired to his home state where he resides in Hot Springs Village. In addition to his wife, Ginger, also a retired educator, he has two sons, one in Florida and the other in Tennessee. A post-retirement interest in genealogy led to discovering that his great-grandfather, Timothy John Barnes, served with Nathan Bedford Forrest during the American Civil War. Further research on Barnes led to Wright's first three books. Spirits Remembered, Dust, Sweat, And Blood, and Barnes a fictional trilogy with Timothy Barnes as the central character. Mr. Wright has also written Exempt From Fear, Let Them Wait, and Rail's End. River Bend is his seventh book and each take place during the War, post-War era. Other interests include photography: his photographs have been used on the front cover of each of his books. He also enjoys reading and traveling with his wife. He is currently researching his next book.