Joyce Gibson Roach is a retired Texas Christian University adjunct English professor, author of non-fiction books, short fiction, and juvenile fiction, a folklorist, grassroots historian, rancher, and naturalist. Her writing has won three Spur Awards and the Carr P. Collins Prize. She is an active member of many organizations, including the Texas State Historical Association, the Texas Folklore Society, the Texas Institute of Letters, and the West Texas Historical Association.