JOHN J. RUSZKIEWICZ (1950-) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended Benedictine High School. He received his BA from St. Vincent College (1972) and his PhD in English from The Ohio State University (1977). He is currently a professor at the University of Texas at Austin where he has taught literature, rhetoric, and writing for more almost 40 years. A winner of the President's Associates Teaching Excellence Award, he was instrumental in creating the Department of Rhetoric and Writing in 1993 and directed the unit from 2001-05. He has also served as president of the Conference of College Teachers of English (CCTE) of Texas. He has written a wide range of books for college writers, from "Beyond Words" and "Everything's an Argument" to "How to Write Anything" and, most recently, "A Reader's Guide to College Writing." When not teaching or writing, he's reading mystery novels about the American Southwest or ancient Rome. He spends his summers in Alpine, Texas, enjoying its proximity to Big Bend National Park.