David Guterson was born in Seattle in 1956. He is the author of a short story collection, The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind, and five novels, including Ed King (2011) and Snow Falling on Cedars, for which he received the PEN/Faulkner Award. In 2002 he cofounded Field’s End, a nonprofit organization designed to serve writers. Guterson lives on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound.