Charles Neville Buck grew up in Midway, about ten miles from Lexington, Kentucky. When his father was appointed as Minister to Peru, Charles went to Peru with him and lived there for four years. After returning to the United States, Charles earned both a BA and law degree from the University of Louisville. Although he passed the bar exam in 1902, he never practiced law, instead, he turned to writing.
His first job was as a cartoonist for the Louisville Evening Post and Louisville Herald (1899-1909) but he soon became an editorial writer there. He spent most of his time in New York, Louisville or the Kentucky mountains and wrote his many novels based mostly on his own experiences. By 1927, Charles Neville Buck maintained two homes -- one in Louisville and a summer home in Orleans, Massachusetts.
The "Call of the Cumberlands" was his most notable work. "Battle Cry", "The Code of the Mountains" and "Mountain Justice" were also very popular. A number of his novels were made into the silent movies of those years. His novels and movies included:
"The Lighted Match" (1911)
"The Portal of Dreams" (1912)
"The Call of the Cumberlands" (1913), movie directed by Julia Crawford Ivers
"The Battle Cry" (1914), movie "Her Man" directed by John Ince and Ralph Ince
"The Key to Yesterday" (1910), movie directed by John Dillon, 1914
"The Code of the Mountains" (1915), movie "A Woman's Power" directed by R. Thornby
"Destiny" (1916), movie directed by Rollin S. Sturgeon
"The Tyranny of Weakness" (1917), movie "Love, Honor and Obey" directed by L. de Cordova
"When 'Bear Cat' Went Dry" (1918), movie directed by Oliver Sellers
"A Pagan of the Hills" (1919), movie "The Mountain Woman", directed by Charles Giblyn
"The Tempering" (1920)
"The Law of Hemlock Mountain" (1920) (nom de plume "Hugh Luncesford")
"The Roof Tree" (1920)
"Alias Red Ryan" (1923)
"A Gentleman in Pajamas" (1924)
"The Rogue's Badge" (1924)
"Portuguese Silver" (1925)
"Flight to the Hills" (1925), movie "The Runaway", directed by W. C. deMille
"San Dollar" (1926)
"Iron Will" (1927)
"Marked Men" (1929)
"Hazard of the Hills" (1932)
"Mountain Justice; a Tale of the Cumberlands" (1935)
