Mick Foley, known somewhat more prevalently as wrestling personas Cactus Jack, Mankind or Dude Love, is a paradox of a man. Husband, father, hardcore legend and three-time best-selling author, Foley is a Renaissance man of the oddest order.

While he may have made a name for himself sacrificing his body for decades across Asia, Africa and North America, Foley also is part of a rather illustrious literary company. Alongside the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Jimmy Buffett, Foley is one of only a handful of authors who have written best-selling works of both fiction and nonfiction.

Foley will be promoting his latest work, and first novel, “Tietam Brown” as well as sharing his experiences in the world of literature and sports entertainment. He is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m Saturday in the Grand Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Foley, a wrestling fan since childhood, has one of the most famous stories in the business of sports entertainment. By now, his exploits of videotaped mayhem at Cortland College in upstate New York and subsequent tours throughout Asia and America on the way to stardom are well known to all wrestling fans, but it wasn’t until the 2001 release of his autobiography “Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks,” that industry dilettantes took notice.

Eschewing proposed ghost writers and other outside help, “Day” was handwritten by Foley on a stack of legal pads during plane trips between World Wrestling Entertainment shows.

With “Day,” Foley dropped his wrestling personas to reveal a man who is insecure at times, always wry and perennially honest in his portrayal of his experiences and the industry that made him a star. For the first time, fans became privy to Foley rather than the sadistic Cactus Jack, the deranged Mankind or the hedonistic Dude Love.

“Have a Nice Day” proved Foley may have endured more punishment than most would imagine humanly possible, but underneath it all was a simple underdog tale of hard work and eventual success.

Nestled on the New York Times bestsellers list for a whopping 26 weeks, “Have a Nice Day” was a critical and commercial success of grand proportions.

Because of the book’s success, Foley was afforded the opportunity for another autobiography. This time, Foley combined his abilities as a storyteller with a bit of social commentary on “Foley is Good: And the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling.”

The book’s title was a play on signs that fans would often bring to events proclaiming, “Foley is God.” Although Foley vehemently denied the supernatural label throughout the book, “Foley is Good” again combined Foley’s humorous tales of life on the road with a view into his personal life with wife Colette and children Dewey and Noelle.

Much like the characters he has portrayed, Foley is a multidimensional man who proves often hard to peg down effectively. He has survived countless chair shots to the head, a disfigured ear, lost teeth, literally hundreds of stitches and a dozen broken bones. But he also enjoys Christmas music year-round, loves amusement parks and is always content to step back from the spotlight to play “super dad” to his children. What could come off as a hardened demeanor is often belied by a gap-toothed smile, soft-spoken tone and seeming gregarious good nature.

Foley followed his previous literary success with the publication of a pair of children’s books. “Mick Foley’s Christmas Chaos,” published in December 2000, and “Mick Foley’s Halloween Hijinx,” published in September 2001, were both achievements for Foley. But he had yet to conquer the world of fictional novels.

Foley’s first novel, “Tietam Brown: A Novel” was released in July 2003 and was met with sales success, but with critics still unwilling to accept a former sports entertainer as a legitimate author.

“I’ve only gotten a little bit of flak,” Foley has said of literary critics in an interview with wrestling magazine “UGO.” “I think there is definitely a small but influential percentage of reviewers who would much rather not have me in their world and judge my work.”

Unfortunately, Foley was unavailable for comment for this piece, as he is on the road promoting the aforementioned “Tietam Brown.”

Foley was booked to speak at Eastern last year while “Tietam Brown” was still being edited. He is the primary speaker for the semester.

“Mick Foley would be our major event,” lectures coordinator Shannon Brende said. “We figured that he would bring in a crowd, one similar to Bruce Campbell’s. I think the students here and the surrounding community would be shocked if we brought a huge WWE wrestler here to Charleston.”

Brende is anticipating Foley will follow in the footsteps of cult movie star Bruce Campbell, Eastern’s most successful lecture to date. Brende is hoping to capitalize on the WWE’s massive appeal and near nightly television showings on MTV and Spike TV.

“I’m hoping that there is a large WWE fan base,” she said. “He is one of the best WWE wrestlers in history. I’m excited to meet him.”

University Board has been promoting the show since the end of September through radio and print ads, and much of the Board’s hopes reside in Foley’s ability to capitalize on fans of both his books, as well as his massive history as a wrestler.

“We are hoping for a pretty big turn out … I’m optimistic,” Brende said. “I’m sure that a lot of people of any age would enjoy this lecture and the chance to meet him. This could be your chance to shake hands with a legend.”

Tickets are $5 for students with a Panther Card and $8 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased at the box office in the Union or at the door the night of the event.