Internationally known writer and educator Harold Raley was born in Alabama and has lived and taught most of this life in the South and Southwest. His mastery of several languages and cultures, travels, and studies in a variety of disciplines has widened his perspective and enriched his literary technique but without weakening his allegiance to the rural times, myths, and people he loved first and best. They live again in Lost River Anthology as Raley elevates his craft to its finest pitch, composing a compelling melody of human drama and dignity cadenced by pathos, pain, love, humor, and salvific hope. The register covers a vast space of intertwined times and personalities, but always centered on the preeminent, unifying theme of human worth.