Oakes dressed as a Hogwarts Professor.
By Dalton Lee, Baldwin Wallace ’11
There’s an art to storytelling, one that could be learned over time, but the lucky few are born with a proclivity to the tall tale. For Robert Oakes, Penn State ’70, the realization that he could spin a yarn began in the TV room of the Omicron house on Penn States Campus. Oakes describes the event, “In the TV room, a group of us were watching a western movie with a complicated plot and it was right at the climax near the end of the movie when a brother walked in and asked, ‘What's this about?’ Several brothers said it was too complicated to explain, and all of a sudden, I launched into an impromptu synopsis of the movie that had my brothers shouting with amazement.” Upon reflection, he realized this was an early moment in his storytelling career, but Oakes’s creativity wouldn’t fully flourish for many years after this event.
The Black Scarlet Saga.
Following his graduation from Penn State, Oakes felt the need for variety in his life. Not willing to settle on just one career, he immersed himself in many; Oakes did stints as a youth director for the YMCA, a wood-burning stove installer, insulated homes, painted houses, sold insurance, worked as a security guard at a nuclear-power station, and then found a home as an account manager for Dominion Energy (previously named Virginia Power). While working at Dominion Energy and living in Fairfax, Virginia, Oakes and his wife, Annie, yearned for a more secluded and nature filled life. The couple moved to the Shenandoah Valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains—it was there that his creativity was unlocked once again. Inspired by a friend who was a third-degree black belt in tae kwon do, The Black Scarlet Saga was born. This series of novels focuses on strong-willed warrior women in their battle against evil. The series currently has four novels: Black Crystal, Black Scarlet, White Angel, and Raven Quest, focusing heavily on the themes of willpower, courage, and personal sacrifice.
Oakes and his wife, Annie.
Of all Oakes’s experiences and accomplishments, he stated that the most rewarding is the decades spent with Annie. The couple will celebrate their 50th anniversary on September 20th of this year. Oakes expressed his love and appreciation for Annie endlessly, and even immortalized it within his pen name for the Black Scarlet Saga—R. A. Oakes—the “A” standing for Annie.
To follow the works of Robert “R. A.” Oakes click the link here.