John R. Powers was born in 1945 on the South Side of Chicago. He earned a BA in sociology from Loyola University Chicago and an MA and a PhD in communications from Northwestern University. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Studs Terkel, a Chicago radio personality and writer known for his oral histories (Hard Times, The Good War). Powers was a professor of speech and performing arts at Northeastern Illinois University for six years. He also created and hosted a number of specials for Chicago public television during this time. Powers's stories first appeared in the form of articles written for Chicago magazine. The novels followed in quick succession: The Last Catholic in America, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, and The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice-Cream God. He has written one other novel, The Junk-Drawer Corner-Store Front-Porch Blues, as well as Odditude: Finding the Passion for Who You Are and What You Do. He and his wife, JaNelle, have two daughters, Jacey and Joy. He lives in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and is a motivational speaker.
Greg Pierce has almost 40 years of experience with citizen organizing and social justice work. He is the president of ACTA Publications, a company he founded more than 25 years ago. He is the author of several books, including the best-seller Spirituality at Work, and he has edited hundreds of books, many by top Catholic writers such as John Shea and Patrick Hannon. Greg and his wife, Kathy, live in Chicago.
Amy Welborn is the general editor of Loyola Classics, a series of new editions of the some of the most distinguished Catholic novels of the twentieth century. She is the author of The Words We Pray, Loyola Kids Book of Heroes, Loyola Kids Book of Saints (Loyla Press), De-Coding Da Vinci, and the Prove It! series of apologetics books for youth (Our Sunday Visitor). Amy and her family live in Birmingham, Alabama.
