James West Davidson is a graduate of Yale University, where he received his PhD in American history. A full-time writer and wilderness paddler, he is also the coeditor of Oxford University Press' New Narratives in American History series with Michael Stoff. He has written several American history textbooks, including After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection, coauthored with Mark Lytle.

John Rugge is the author of The Complete Wilderness Paddler and Great Heart: The History of a Labrador Adventure, both with James West Davidson, as well as All in a Day's Work: Scenes and Stories from an Adirondack Medical Practice with Daniel Way.