William D. (Bill) Auman likes to say that he is the product of three courts: a former USPTR Tennis Professional, basketball coach, and lawyer for 40 years during which he handled over 70 murder cases as a defense attorney. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at both the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Mars Hill University for a combined 25 years. An award-winning novelist for "If Trees Could Testify..." (published by Booklocker in 2021 with an audiobook by Stone Table Media released in 2025), he has also written "Pioneer Paddling Colonial Carolina" (Dog Ear Publishing, 2011) and the newly-released "Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South" (Mangrove Mountain Press). He resides in New Port Richey, Florida with his wife Elizabeth and canine companion Trouble, although they snowbird back to the mountains of North Carolina during the summer months.