Gray

For A'keith Walters (pen-name, Gray), it all began on a cold, wet, and windy night in January of 1956. Well actually, the weather was quite nice and balmy since it was in Houston, Texas, particularly for the time of year. Not according to his mother, though. To hear her tell it, it had been his choice to come into this world at the worst possible time, two in the morning, unexpected, and after she had consumed a rather large and spicy late night meal. He does admit, however, that like his birth, he has always been in a hurry to get started on any new adventure.

He has lived all his life in Texas, where he enjoyed his university years and received his B.A. in English Literature in 1978. After nine unrewarding years in banking and a life and death struggle with alcohol and drugs, Gray is living proof one can drink oneself almost to death and still survive. He is very proud of his lifetime membership in AA since 1988. Gray is now in semi retirement, utilizing his professional experience to attend to the daily business and lives of his two elderly parents. He is an avid collector of black and white photography. Gray was recently shaken by the loss of his life partner of twenty-one years, and this among other things, drove him to pick up the creative pen again. To date, he has been rewarded with having two of his poems and a short story published.

Gray�s primary occupation these days is the creation of a body of poetics for eventual publication, an endeavor that was just recently started during the past year.