The author of two award-winning books, "The Eden Hunter" and "The Southern Cross," is starting his first semester as an English professor.
Skip Horack has been an attorney, a lecturer at Stanford University and is now a creative writing professor at Auburn.
English Department Chair Jeremy Downes said after carefully considering more than 100 applications from highly qualified writers and teachers, Horack was chosen as the best.
The quality of his writing, personal engagement with the department and commitment to his students were what put Horack ahead of the competition, Downes said.
After graduating from Florida State University's College of Law, Horack worked with a law firm in Baton Rouge, La., for approximately five years.
From there he went to Stanford University for a two-year fellowship in creative writing.
Even with a varied background as a lawyer and lecturer, Horack said he always considered himself a writer first, and his jobs helped him support his lifestyle as an author.
"When people asked me what I did for a living, I would say 'Oh, I work at a law firm,' as if I stacked boxes there," Horack said.
While at Stanford he had the opportunity to teach and write simultaneously. Once he knew he had the job at Auburn, the only things that stood in his way were six states and nearly 2,500 miles.
Horack drove a 26-foot moving truck from San Francisco to Auburn, visiting the Grand Canyon along the way. His wife and dog were in the car ahead of him.
"It was like Smokey and the Bandit," Horack said. "At about 55 mph it would get really shaky."
After lurching from coast to coast, he and his family arrived Aug. 1. He said Auburn was just what he needed after what was at least a 39 hour trip.
He described his introduction to Auburn as one of the friendliest and most welcoming he's ever experienced.
"Professor Horack is an excellent addition to the faculty," Downes said.
The students of his Fiction Writing II class, Lauren Barkley, senior in biomedical sciences and Ethan Hightower, senior in English, described him as knowledgeable, passionate, enthusiastic, goofy and scatter-brained, and said he is a person who is true to his heart.
Horack said the feeling was mutual, and after a few weeks into the semester, he said, "I really love the students here."
His advice for prospective writers: finish what you start. When writing a story, he said, the "idea you're not working on is always going to seem like the one you should be working on, because that's the easier one."
Horack said he plans to attend a few football games this fall, especially since it is his first year at the University.
The last and only Auburn game he ever attended was in 1996, when Auburn played LSU and the field house, aka "the Barn," caught fire during the game. He said he didn't know if Auburn would win or lose the next game he went to, but he hoped nothing would burn.
Putting an end to the myth that "those who can't do, teach," he continues to write and now hopes to share this passion for creative writing with his students.
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