The family was fairly poor but Priest's mother's dignity did not allow her to go on public assistance. A licensed practical nurse, she often worked double and sometimes triple shifts to provide for her family, which often meant Priest was left to the mercy (or lack thereof) of his older sister, a pre-teen sadist of the first caliber who made an art form of torturing her younger brother. All of which informs Priest's notorious reclusivity, which he blathers on about in some detail here.

Fearing the quality of education in the local schools, Priest's mother bussed him to schools in white neighborhoods. The bussing experiment worked pretty well, as there really was no racial awareness among the grade schoolers, who all accepted or rejected each other on the basis of the typical social requiems of the day. Priest heard the word "Nigger" for the first time in a boys room, where he paid a white kid a quarter to tell him what it meant.

In junior high, Priest began studying music formally, learning the tenor saxophone and basic music theory. Over the years, he eventually taught himself piano and drums, and took up bass as an adult. He went to the New York School of Media Arts where he studied journalism, and holds diplomas from that school and a Regents diploma from New York State University.

In his senior year, he entered the New York City executive High School Internship program, where he won a semester's internship at Marvel Comics, reporting to editors Rick Marschal and Ralf (Waste) Macchio. After the internship, Priest was offered freelance proofreading by Nelson Yomtov, and eventually came to work for Paul Laiken, then-editor of CRAZY Magazine, for a whopping $25 per month, while becoming the first African American writer and editor to ever work for mainstream super-hero publishers Marvel and DC Comics. Priest saw the CRAZY job as his toe-hold on the comics business, and his perseverance paid off when Larry Hama was eventually hired as the new CRAZY editor. This began a long professional relationship as Hama's assistant, and a long career in comics that endures to this day.

During the early Marvel days, Priest began recording music in studios in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as performing as a sideman for several bands and choirs in the New York area.

In the wake of his marriage failing in 1993, Priest legally changed his name from Owsley to Priest. The specific reasons for the change are personal, and he never discusses them. Priest moved to New Jersey in 1985 and Pennsylvania in 1995, eventually settling in Colorado Springs, where he lives today and serves as a Baptist minister.

In 25 years of comics writing, Priest has written, at one time or another, every major character currently being published. Also, over the years, he has written and recorded numerous songs and served as producer and sideman for various bands and choirs. You can read a more detailed musical bio here, and a more detailed comics bio here along with selected career highlights and photos.