Growing up on River Ridge in Southwest Virginia, Charles Lytton enjoyed the New River right out the back door and a very large and colorful family. In his early childhood, he listened to and was educated by the stories told by the old men who lived them in Long Shop at Tom Long's store. He began his working life on a large farm in Whitethorn, VA, and studies in Rhode Island and Tennessee before returning to Virginia Tech for undergraduate and graduate degrees. Charles is a storyteller in the oral tradition so often attributed to Appalachia.