Author Biography: Roy E. Reehil

   Roy traveled an unusual path to become an author and publisher. From 1978 to 1987 he was a professional musician working part-time in the printing industry. That gave him the opportunity to try his hand at graphic design, creating posters, flyers and record jackets for his bands.
   In 1985, the printing company opened a copy-center in Rome and enlisted Roy to run it. While running the copy-center, Roy brought a computer into the shop and began producing artwork on some of the early electronic publishing programs in the "Pre-Windows" era.
   By 1988 he was working as a freelance computer trainer and graphic designer and in 1990 he started Assist-tech Publishing Services, a technical support group that provided training, file conversion, scanning and other production related services to the graphic design and printing industries.
   In March of 1995 Roy was "drafted" to become Mayor of the Village of Cleveland by friends serving on the village board after the sitting mayor resigned. Thinking that he could help the village by serving the five months remaining in the term and then return to "civilian life," he accepted. Seven years later he "term-limited" himself by not running again in 2002.
   While serving as mayor he joined a company called DSS Environmental, Inc. in 1997, to help the company patent and market an innovative water purification technology. By the end of the year he was president of the company, a position he held until the company was sold to an international water and energy conglomerate in 1999. After the sale of DSS Environmental, Roy took the job he loved most, that of a stay-at-home dad looking after his toddler son Ethan. To stay busy he designed internet web sites on the side.
   In 2003, when Ethan began school full-time, Roy started The Forager Press, LLC because he "needed something to do."
"Actually," he said, "it was something that I wanted to do for a long time!"
   In September 2003 the company published its first book, Black Mold - Your Health and Your Home by Richard Progovitz. The second publication, Adirondack Characters and Campfire Yarns by William J. "Jay" O'Hern, was published in 2005. After working with O'Hern for four years as co-author of Under An Adirondack Influence, The Life of A. L. Byron-Curtis, that book was published in June of 2008
   Roy's first book as lead author was Adirondack Adventures: Bob Gillespie and Harvey Dunham on French Louie's Trail published in August of 2012.
   He published several more of O'Hern's titles, working togerther until 2015 when O'Hern decided to start his own publishing company. In 2025, both Roy and Jay sold their imprint names and publishing rights to their titles to Upstate Books, LLC, as a way to retire from publishing, while making sure the tiles would stay in print.
  During the time that Roy ran The Forager Press, he also joined the Central Adirondack Search and Rescue Team (CASART) eventually becoming a DEC certified Wilderness First Responder and Crew Boss. He also served the team as treasurer and president for several years.
  Circling back to Roy's earlier music career, after the loss of two members of one of his bands, and the sale of his publishing business, he decided to revisit some of his records and recordings to see if they could be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. He settled on the streaming handle, Really Roy, and his musical bio, and many recordings are posted at his new website ReallyRoy.com. He's putting together a home studio and new music should be coming soon. He's also begun performing again at small venues.    Roy is currently serving as an Oswego County Legislator representing the Town of Constantia and Village of Cleveland. He lives with his wife Patricia in Cleveland, NY on Oneida Lake.