Thomas Savage was born in 1915 in Salt Lake City. He studied writing at the University of Montana and received his B.A. from Colby College in 1940 and an honorary M.F.A. in 1952. His literary career spans five decades and thirteen novels. He has also held numerous jobs besides that of writer: wrangler, ranch hand, plumber's assistant, welder, railroad brakeman, insurance adjuster, and English teacher — at Brandeis University and Vassar College, among others. Savage was the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship in 1980. His most recent novel, The Corner of Rife and Pacific, was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the fifteen best novels of 1988, was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. His novel The Power of the Dog was recently reissued by Back Bay Books, with an afterword by Annie Proulx. He currently lives in Virginia.