C. Arthur Ellis, Jr. was born in the small North Florida town of Live Oak right after World War II. He holds master's degrees in medical physiology and English literature and a PhD in the humanities. He is married to Leslie Ellis, his wife of 53 years, and has two sons and 3 grandchildren.
After his retirement from teaching and medical administration, Dr. Art Ellis turned to his favorite past-time of writing. Since he had always been fascinated with the hometown true-crime story of Ruby McCollum, he decided that this would be his first book.
After completing his work on the Ruby McCollum story, Dr. Ellis visited friends in Live Oak who had read his book on the Ruby McCollum story and learned that there were two other murders in the county prior to the Ruby McCollum story, both of which were connected to bolita. The most famous of the murders was the drowning death of 15-year-old Willie James Howard whose crime was sending a Christmas card and a poem to a white girl.
This research led to the publication of Blood on the Suwannee in 2020.
Dr. Ellis and his wife live between their home in Dalton, Georgia and their cabin in Ellijay, Georgia.
