John R. Stockwell (1937- ), who lived in Africa for ten of his early years, is a graduate of the University of Texas and an alumnus of the U.S. Marine Corps. After twelve years as a CIA officer, he resigned from the agency on April 1, 1977.

MATTHEW DAVIS is a MFA graduate of the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program and currently a graduate student at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. A chapter of "When Things Get Dark" has won the 2005 Atlantic Monthly prize in nonfiction and another chapter was a "notable essay" in the 2006 Best American Travel Writing series. Matt lives in Washington, D.C.