John Foster West

Born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, on December 10, 1918, he studied at Mars Hill College before serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he returned to school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning degrees in English, and later completed a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa.

He taught English and creative writing at several colleges, including Appalachian State University, where he served from 1968 until his retirement in 1990. Alongside his teaching, he built a varied body of work as a poet, novelist, and historian, with books such as Lift Up Your Head, Tom Dooley, Time Was, and The Ballad of Tom Dooley helping preserve the history, legends, and voices of the North Carolina mountains.

He died on May 2, 2008, at age 89. Remembered as both a writer and an advocate for the Appalachian region, he left behind books that continue to connect readers with the culture and memory of western North Carolina.