As youngest of six children growing up in a close-knit sharecropping family in the heart of the Depression, Buddy learned to face life with humor and depth resting on a strong foundation of faith. His writing draws on the richness of that austere background, as also reflected by one of his brothers in the Hal Upchurch Chronicles. Both were preachers with a poetic penchant, and each enjoyed ribbing the other in verse through the years.
Before devoting a lifetime in service to his beloved family and ministry, Buddy served in the U.S. Navy. “The Storm” recounts in his own voice a harrowing week experienced by the crew of the YMS 260 in 1944.