Cortland Fitzsimmons was born in Brooklyn, New York (possibly Queens) on June 19, 1893 and died July 25, 1949 in Los Angeles, California. After attending New York University and The City College of New York, he worked for some time as a salesman for several book distributors and publishers before turning to writing full time in 1934. Most of his works as a writer were mysteries, a number of which were based on sports themes such as 70,000 Witnesses: A Football Mystery, Crimson Ice: A Hockey Mystery, and Death on a Diamond: A Baseball Mystery. A number of his novels were made into films and he moved to Los Angeles to work as a screenwriter. His last book was a cookbook that he co- wrote with his wife Muriel Simpson You Can Cook If You Can Read.