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This South Charleston native grew up in Milton and loved local history and stories. Pancake studied at West Virginia Wesleyan, Marshall University, and at the University of Virginia’s Creative Writing Program.
He worked many jobs and taught at military schools while writing short stories. His first big success was when The Atlantic Monthly published his story "Trilobites" in 1977. Many of his stories take place in West Virginia towns and coalfields. His writing was honest and sometimes dark, showing people facing hard lives without sugarcoating their struggles.
After his death, his stories were collected in a book published in 1983.
