Walter Carter collaborated with George Gruhn on three books - Gruhn's Guide, Acoustic Guitars and Electric Guitars & Basses - during his first stint at Gruhn Guitars, from 1988-93. He then did two tours of duty as Gibson's editorial director and historian, during which time he wrote books on Gibson, Epiphone, Martin and Ovation. He returned to Gruhn's in June 2005, and he now divides his time between management duties and working with George Gruhn on new creative projects.A graduate of the University of North Carolina (where he ignored a professor's advice to take a remedial writing course), Walter moved to Nashville in 1971 to pursue a songwriting career. He's worked for the local newspaper, local nightclubs, record companies and publishing companies, and he wrote Kathy Mattea's 1988 hit "Life As We Knew It." He plays mandola in the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, and he has recently completed a mystery novel (co-written with fellow songwriter Fred Koller) based around the long lost Gibson Moderne.