Samuel Rice was born in the hills of Southeastern Kentucky the day after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, an era marked by loss, reflection, and a shift in the American spirit. The youngest of five children, he was raised by loving, God-fearing parents who taught him integrity, compassion, and the quiet wisdom found in nature.

Samuel attended a small college outside Lexington before moving to Tampa, where he continued his studies in philosophy at the University of South Florida. Philosophy became his early foundation; an invitation to think deeply, question boldly, and explore the unseen layers of life. While in Tampa, he managed the dessert room of an internationally renowned restaurant, discovering both discipline and creativity in the rhythm of hospitality.

A spontaneous move to New Jersey, just outside New York City, awakened another unexpected talent: sewing. What began as curiosity grew into a full drapery manufacturing business. Eventually he moved into Manhattan, absorbing the city’s energy before continuing his entrepreneurial journey in South Florida. There, Samuel built a successful international drapery company that flourished for 18 years, until the economic collapse of 2008 dismantled nearly everything he had built. By 2011, he had lost his home, his business, his friends, and even his pets.

At his mother’s loving insistence, he returned to Lexington to rebuild. Not long after, a near-fatal car accident placed him in a coma and cost him his spleen. After a year of recovery and an attempt to restart his business in Florida, life brought him back once again to Kentucky. He withdrew from the world for a time, until stepping into a new chapter working at a local casino.

It was there, quietly, unexpectedly, that everything changed. Samuel began studying Hermeticism, astrology, Kabbalah, and other metaphysical traditions. His lifelong philosophical curiosity deepened into spiritual exploration, and writing became both expression and revelation.

After 7½ years at the casino, he faced a moral crossroads. He had grown close to the patrons and could no longer support a system built on other people’s losses. Leaving was a leap of integrity and the beginning of his creative renaissance.

In the months that followed, Samuel wrote Before the Fear Had a Name, The Great Message, The Final Seed, and The Wounded Healer. Each work reflects the arc of his life: loss and resilience, awakening and truth, the journey back to what has always been within.

He currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky, and intends to relocate to Sedona as he continues his writing, teaching, and spiritual work.