Robin Cody was a teacher before he turned to writing. Cody has written about all aspects of the West, including its people and the culture. One of Cody's novel's, Ricochet River, a coming-of-age story set in the 60s, has found its way into a number of high schools and colleges, where it has replaced A Separate Peace and Catcher in the Rye as required reading. Cody has also written the nonfiction book Voyage of a Summer Sun, an account of his solo canoe trip down the Columbia River. In 1986, Cody received the Western Writers of America's Silver Spur Award for nonfiction.