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Ron Soodalter has pursued a variety of diverse careers. With a B.A. in American History and master's
degrees in Education and American Folk Culture, he taught in various schools throughout New York
State, and in New York City's Riker's Island Prison. He then worked as curator of a Colorado history
museum, where he served on the Board of Directors of the 10-state Mountain-Plains Museums Conference.
As a young teenager, Soodalter was fortunate to have studied Flamenco guitar with the world renowned
Carlos Montoya, and has played professionally all his life. Also an accomplished scrimshaw artist, he
has been featured in a prominent Manhattan art gallery.
A lifelong student and lover of folk music, Soodalter has collected traditional ballads in the United
States, Ireland, and Scotland. He is also a dedicated collector of western memorabilia. His love of
the west came to him through his grandfather, who was a cowboy in Colorado in the early part of the
last century.
In addition to his two current books - Hanging Captain Gordon and The Slave Next
Door � Soodalter�s writings have been featured in six other volumes. He has had over 400
articles published in such periodicals as the New York Times, Smithsonian, Civil
War Times, Military History, New York Archives, American History,
and True West, and is a regular columnist for America�s Civil War. He is the
recipient of the International and Regional Magazine Association�s 2010 Gold Award, 2014 Award of
Merit, and 2016 Silver Award. Soodalter also travels extensively, lecturing on both American History
and the modern-day slave trade.
Soodalter currently serves as president of the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute,
and is on the Advisory Board of the S.S. Columbia Project. In addition, he is a member of the Western
Writers of America and the Wild West History Association. He has two daughters, Jesse and Melora, a
grandson, Bennett Lincoln, and a granddaughter, Nico Rose, and lives with his wife Jane in Cold
Spring, New York.
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