Educated at Stanford and Columbia, William Kerrigan has taught English literature at the state universities of Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts. He is the author and/or editor of eighteen books of literary scholarship and criticism, published by presses such as Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins. Most recently he co-edited four volumes of John Milton's works for the Random House Modern Library. Now retired and living in California, he writes mystery novels, including a series charting the early history of the movie business, starring Wallace Kerrigan (the author's grandfather) and his mistress Pearl Seagrove. He is also the author of the supernatural thriller 'The Ghost Killers of Black Ash Canyon.'