R. S. (Sam) Gwynn was born in Leaksville (now Eden), North Carolina, in 1948.  After attending Davidson College, he entered the graduate program at the University of Arkansas, where he earned his M. F. A.  From 1976, he taught at Lamar University, where he was Poet-in-Residence and University Professor of English. He retired in 2016. His first two collections were chapbooks, Bearing & Distance (1977) and The Narcissiad (1980).  These were followed by The Drive-In (1986) and No Word of Farewell: New and Selected Poems 1970-2000.  His latest collection is Dogwatch (2014) from Measure Press.  His criticism appeared regularly in the Hudson Review and other publications, and he was editor of the Pocket Anthology Series from Pearson-Longman. He lives in Beaumont, Texas, with his wife, Donna.  They have three sons and seven grandchildren.