Dougald L. "Doug" Blue III started writing when he was about eight with a biography of Alexander the Great, researched and borderline-plagiarized from National Geographic magazine and a book his dad gave him. At twelve, he wrote, set type and printed his own neighborhood newspaper, making a killing at five cents a copy. His adult career began as a copyboy, intern, and city-desk reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch during the golden years of newspapers. That was followed by some 35 years in corporate communications, and then the inevitable "self-employment," today working as a writer, editor, and publicist. He is an alumnus of Hampden-Sydney College where good writing is a valued achievement, as well as a necessity. A native of Richmond, he lives in nearby Ashland, Virginia.