Paul David Combs

Paul David Combs served as a teacher, principal and head of schools for forty years, including thirty-three years spent administrating schools in six different countries. His lifelong passion for history led him to spend nearly a decade researching the historical material that would eventually become the foundation for his first novel, A Time for Every Season. Drawing upon his extensive research and his own knowledge of his Appalachian ancestry, Combs developed a sweeping multi-generational story inspired by his family's history and their role in shaping Breathitt County, Kentucky before, during and after the Civil War. Through years of research, Combs uncovered a previously untold story of what happened when the Civil War came to the hills of Eastern Kentucky and what remained after the conflict had passed. His research, combined with family history and Appalachian heritage, became the inspiration for A Time for Every Season, a novel that brings the people, struggles, relationships, and sacrifices of that era to life.

Set between 1850 and the years following Reconstruction, A Time for Every Season follows the life of the author's actual great grandfather, “Rebel Shade” Combs, as he grows from a spirited mountain boy into a man forever changed by war. As the Civil War reaches the Appalachian Mountains, its effects are felt far beyond the battlefield. Families connected through generations of marriage, friendship, and shared history—including the Combs, Noble, Allen and Landrum families—find themselves by opposing loyalties. Long-standing relationships are strained as neighbors, friends and relatives confront the realities of a nation at war. Through Rebel Shade’s experiences, the novel examines the personal sacrifices and lasting consequences of conflict within a close-knit community.