Thomas King is a writer of Cherokee and Greek/German descent. He was born in 1943 in Sacramento, California. Christianity played a significant role in King’s childhood. He was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, and he was influenced by various denominations of Christianity as a boy. After he failed to succeed at Sacramento State University, he went on to join the Navy. A bad knee ended his career in the Navy, and after being discharged, he held jobs like blackjack dealer and ambulance driver. In 1971, he earned a PhD from the University of Utah. His research focused on Native Studies and the history of oral tradition in literature. This concept appears heavily in his fiction.
King...