Jay Wright grew up in a northwest Georgia mill town of 3.000 people. He received a bachelor’s in business administration from Georgia State University and a masters in organizational development from West Georgia University. A U.S. Naval Air vet, he was stationed in Jacksonville, FL and Sigonella, Sicily during the Viet Nam Era. Following a career as a training consultant with AT&T in Atlanta, GA and Princeton, NJ, he retired to the beauty and tranquillity of Lake Hartwell and Anderson.

He has struggled with balancing his time among three passions: photography, learning solo jazz guitar, and writing. His shutterbug muse lures him to Carolina and Maine coasts as well as the beautiful foothills of Appalachia and the Upstate. Music invariably lands on the backburner, yielding to his yen for writing. As an executive committee member of the Foothills Writers Guild, his ink-stained fingers give away his love of writing and playing a role in the journeys to success of its members. Spare time is spent reading about how to write and watching true crime TV. He looks forward to showcasing award-winning poems by local poets. His latest collection of poems, Quiet Escapes: Poems For Perspective, was released in January 2024. It is available at McDowell’s Emporium in Anderson, Pendleton Bookstore in Pendleton, and Amazon.com.

As a contributor to Anderson Magazine, he looks forward to showcasing award-winning poets and poems by Foothills Writers Guild members over the last 50 years and an occasional peek at something brewing in Anderson’s thriving arts community.