Paul Thigpen is a native of Savannah, Georgia, and grew up on one of the sea islands along the Georgia coast. He received a B.A. in Religious Studies from Yale University and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. from Emory University. He has served on the theology faculty of several colleges and universities and is currently editor for TAN Books, a publishing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina.Paul is an award-winning journalist and the best-selling author of forty-five books. His works have been translated into a dozen languages and published around the world. Paul loves to sing. He was a first-tenor soloist with the Yale Glee Club and the lead singer in a Christian rock band that pioneered contemporary Christian music throughout Europe in the early seventies. He also had a small speaking part in the 1979 CBS made-for-television movie ORPHAN TRAIN, in which he played a character named "Thigpen." Paul has even been known to do improv comedy with some of his college students in campus coffee houses.