Tom Russ is a professor at the College of Southern Maryland and the author of six books. He spent his summers growing up in the Finger Lakes region of New York and owns a home in Hammondsport, New York. Wine and food have long been among his passionate interests. The growth of the vinifera wines and the local food movement in the Finger Lakes is a natural area of interest, and the story of Dr. Konstantin Frank was a logical extension of that interest.