Jerry Ash

Jerry Ash has written 10 books ranging from histories to business management. "Hellraiser: Mother Jones" was his first historic novel intended for the mass market. "MoJo: Getting on the Right Side" features a Modern Mother Jones.

A coalminer's son, he is a native of Bridgeport, West Virginia, located in the center of the northern coalfields.

Among his published books is "West Virginia USA, 1976," which was co-authored with AP feature writer Strat Douthat. It was a chapter written by Douthat that introduced Jerry to Mother Jones.

Jerry holds a masters degree in journalism from West Virginia University and was an assistant professor of journalism there for seven years. In the 1970s, he was editor and co-publisher of a small town weekly newspaper in Terra Alta, West Virginia, "The Preston County News," which won forty state and national awards during those years. At the same time he co-founded the Pioneer Press of West Virginia.

In the 1980s he was elected to two terms as a West Virginia State Senator. He chaired the Standing Committee on Health and Human Services.

After leaving the Senate he became vice president of the West Virginia Hospital Association and then president and CEO of the Nevada Hospital Association. After a stint as executive director of Lifegift Organ Donation Centers in Houston, Fort Worth, Lubbock and Amarillo,Texas, in the 1990s, he worked as an independent business consultant and became known worldwide for his expertise in the field of knowledge management. He was editor of "Inside Knowledge" magazine in London, England, before retiring in 2010.