Roy Bentley spent his childhood in Ohio, then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1972.  As a Vietnam-era veteran returning to Ohio, he developed an interest in writing and poetry and enrolled at Ohio State University’s Newark Branch under the GI Bill. In 1975, he moved to Athens, Ohio and finished a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at Ohio University—with the help of his then-wife Sherry Dixon—and began teaching at both OU and a small technical college nearby. 
 
In 1986, Bentley published his first full-length book of poems, Boy in a Boat.  In the late 1980s, Bentley returned to Newark to teach for a small college where he was granted tenure in 1992.   That year his second book, Any One Man, was released by Bottom Dog Books.  In the 1990s he taught communications and creative writing, notably for Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
 
Roy and Sherry divorced in 1997.  Following his marriage to Gloria Regalbuto, that same year, Bentley was able to devote more time to his writing. He presently makes his home in Stuart, Florida where he writes full-time.

LINKS
www.roy-bentley.com