JACK MCDEVITT is the Nebula Award–winning author of the Academy series and the Alex Benedict series. He went to La Salle University, then joined the navy, drove a cab, became an English teacher, took a customs inspector’s job on the northern border, and didn’t write another word for a quarter century. In 1971 he received a master’s degree in literature from Wesleyan University, and in 1980 he returned to writing when his wife, Maureen, encouraged him to try his hand at it again. Along with winning the Nebula Award in 2006, he has also been nominated for a Hugo Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Philip K. Dick Award. In 2015 he was awarded the Robert A. Heinlein Award for lifetime achievement. He and his wife live near Brunswick, Georgia. You can visit him at jackmcdevitt.com.