Alfred Ray was born in Charleston in 1958. His first ancestors arrived here in 1792 fleeing Revolution in Haiti. Coming from a family of ‘long generations’ and longer memory, he took in all the old tales and legends that instilled in him a love for his native city. His illustrious tour guiding career started in 1980 with a pitchfork atop a pile of horse dung in a carriage barn on State Street. Seeking cleaner work, he spent a number of years in Real Estate Development with an emphasis on Historic Preservation and reclamation of the historic Radcliffeboro neighborhood in midtown Charleston. Later, after graduating from the Medical University of South Carolina, he worked in Healthcare Outreach.