George R. Stewart (1895-1980) was born in Pennsylvania and educated at Princeton. He received his PhD in English literature from Columbia in 1922 and joined the English faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1924. He was a sociologist, toponymist, and founding member of the American Name Society, and the author of more than twenty books, including the highly successful novel
Earth Abides and several works of American history. In addition to
Storm, NYRB Classics publishes his study of American place names,
Names on the Land.
Nathaniel Rich is the author of
Second Nature;
Losing Earth, a finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Award and a winner of awards from the Society of Environmental Journalists and the American Institute of Physicists; and the novels
King Zeno,
Odds Against Tomorrow, and
The Mayor's Tongue.