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The oldest of seven children, C. Lee Ryder was born and raised in rural south-central Pennsylvania next to the Tuscarora State Forest in the Ridge and Valley region of the Appalachian Mountain chain. She spent her childhood exploring the mountainsides and valley where she grew up, church on Sundays, and time with her grandparents. During any season, spring, summer, fall, or winter, she could be found (or not found) exploring in the woods, along the Conococheague creek or small feeder streams, or following old trails. Drawing and painting ever since she can remember, Lee’s hobbies include painting, woodworking, and restoring “old things”.
Her brother Carl, two and a half years younger, was usually with her. They both thought it would last forever. The valley in those days seemed a safe enough place. Everyone knew each other and most shared a family tree somewhere along the line. The older generations looked out for the younger ones. Up through the 1970’s people still dressed up and drove to town on Friday evenings, letting their doors unlocked. But the years rolled into decades and things changed somewhat, like everywhere else. Time flew by quicker, strangers moved in, winters didn’t seem quite as long and the snow didn’t get as deep. But it has always been home and first loves live forever.
Ryder’s first employment out of high school was with Affiliated Industries in Shippensburg, a cabinet building company where she learned lamination and later managed the stockroom and ordered supplies. The company held huge contracts in the 1980’s with entities such as Macy’s, Bon Ton, JC Penny’s and Trump Suites, to name a few. She stayed with the company thirteen years. She never would have guessed that years later that would be the very same place her brother’s killer would walk off from and murder Carl.
After the company closed in 1991 she found employment with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, but in 1993 was drawn to Alabama for the next seven years where she attended Athen State University graduating Summa Cum Laude. Studies included art and religion with a special affinity for oil painting and Jewish history. She worked for NASA in the computer graphics department for a short spell, then began working on her Masters degree. It was at that time a sudden urge to return home brought her back to Pennsylvania. She worked for Carl with his fencing business until she was hired with Pennsylvania State Police. After her brother’s murder she left the state police and is currently employed at Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania.
Ryder’s first book Black Clover is an account of the murder of her brother, the incompetent handling of the case, and the damage it caused her family. Writing the book was important to her. It provided a means to let the public know what Carl suffered and what the family went through, and the bitter injustice of having to fight for justice. It shows how a recidivist criminal was given the freedom before the murder to continue his way of life at the expense of Carl’s life.