Robert Walton is a retired middle school teacher and lifelong rock climber with many ascents in the Sierras and Pinnacles National Park. His writing about climbing has appeared in the Sierra Club's Ascent. His publishing credits include works of science fiction, fantasy and poetry. He also worked as a newspaper columnist for a time. His historical novel Dawn Drums won the 2014 New Mexico Book Awards Tony Hillerman Prize for best fiction, first place in the 2014 Arizona Authors competition and first place in the historical fiction category of the 2017 Readers Choice Awards. Most recently, his “Do you feel lucky, Punk?” received a prize in the Bartleby Snopes 2018 dialog only contest.