John Ryskamp was born on July 14, 1954. He took his B.A. from the University of Michigan. He received his Master's degree in 1975 and a law degree in 1985. His works have appeared in Artforum, the Harvard Art Journal, and Poetry Flash. As a child, he spent his summer vacations at Big Star Lake, Michigan, and drew on his knowledge of the area for this book. He currently lives in Oakland, California, and has been a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area since leaving graduate school in 1977.