Greg Sarris is one of those rare larger than life characters that the most fortunate among us encounter once in a great while during our lifetime. He is indeed a novelist having written several books, notable among them the critically acclaimed Watermelon Nights and the award-winning Grand Avenue, which ultimately inspired an HBO miniseries of the same name that was co-produced by Robert Redford. He is also a screenwriter having written pilots for HBO and Showtime in addition to the script for the aforementioned adaptation of his celebrated novel. And he is, in truth, a scholar and professor as well, having earned a PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University, worked as a full professor of English at UCLA, and graced the Graton Rancheria Endowed Chair in Writing and Native American Studies at Sonoma State University since 2005.

For most people, that would be enough to fill a lifetime. But Greg Sarris’ life has had many acts, the most current of which may ultimately be the one to indelibly define his legacy. Now in his thirteenth elected term as the Tribal Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Sarris oversees the Graton Resort and Casino (www.gratonresortcasino.com), a staggering complex in Sonoma County, California, which includes gaming, multiple restaurants, meeting and conventions spaces, a luxurious spa and a chic new 200-room hotel. Wildly successful from the moment its doors were opened in 2013, the tribe’s nearly $1 billion gaming facility and hotel has been shepherded by Sarris since the tribe officially regained recognition thanks to a bill that was not coincidentally co-authored by Sarris and signed by Bill Clinton in the final days of his presidency.

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