The author, Keith Sheets, grew up on a farm near Ardmore, Nebraska. He had two older brothers, Bob and Dean, and a younger sister, Gloria. He graduated from high school in Gandy, Nebraska. In 1956, he married MaryAlice Quig, and together they had three children: Jim, Marla, and Bill. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1969 with a degree in Ecological Economics and attended Nebraska Law School for one year. After law school, he worked for 11 years in the natural resources service in Nebraska, eventually concluding his career as an economist with the Federal Government’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.