Born in Queens, New York, Richard Panchyk attended the prestigious Stuyvesant High School. He received a Master's degree in Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, and completed doctoral coursework there. He knew he wanted to be a writer by the time he was seven years old. He sold his first "book," a four-page handwritten trivia booklet, to a third grade classmate for a nickel. He printed a small book of his poems at the age of 19, and published his first book with Van Nostrand Reinhold at the age of 21. Since then he has published 26 books for a total of more than 2,800 pages, including ten books in the "For Kids" series published by Chicago Review Press. His most recent book, Baseball History for Kids, has just been released.