Collection contains essays, poetry, editorial letters, and other written items – created between 1986 and 2024 – by Sacramento writer William J. Hughes.

William J. Hughes was born on July 19, 1946, in Rockville Center, New York, and grew up in East Rockaway, Long Island, New York. He went on to graduate from East Rockaway High School in 1964. He joined the United State Marines in August of the same year and was assigned to the First Marine Division. He served in Viet Nam in 1966 and 1967 in Quang Tri Province, Camp Carroll, and Danang. His highest rank was Sergeant. Upon returning to New York, he worked as a police officer in Nassau County and then entered college, graduating from the State University of New York at Stonybrook with a degree in American Literature in 1974. From there, he came west to Yellowstone National Park, where he eventually became a ranger. He also spent time at Everglades National Park. A friendship with a burgeoning politician brought him further west to California and Sacramento. By the early 1980s, Hughes served as a staffer on his friend's staff at the State Capitol. He eventually served as a tour guide within a restored Capitol building. Soon after that, he transitioned into writing full time, using his experiences from East Rockaway to I Corps as influences. Major influences on his writing of short stories, plays, poems, and books are Jack London, Emily Dickenson, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas McGuane, and Tom Wolfe.

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