Gary Cullen was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Because his family moved often, he spent his childhood in Alexandria, Virginia; Billings, Montana; Portland, Oregon; and ultimately Waldport, Oregon, where he graduated from high school.

He began his college studies at Oregon State University, but his education was interrupted by a two‑year tour in the U.S. Navy aboard a refueling ship off the coast of Vietnam. That experience deepened his appreciation for learning, and shortly after completing his service, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree from the University of Missouri–Columbia.

Gary’s professional career centered on promoting energy conservation, working with utilities and government agencies to design programs that helped customers use energy more efficiently. While raising his two children with his wife, Kathleen, he developed a lasting love for soccer and spent nearly twenty years coaching youth teams.

A lifelong student of history, Gary especially enjoys reading and writing historical fiction. The foundation for the Jean‑Luc & Anna Lise trilogy comes from a series of recurring dreams he’s experienced over the past fifty years—dreams of being in Moscow in 1812, bearing the name Jean‑Luc, and rescuing a girl named Anna Lise. These dreams carried him through Napoleon’s retreat with all its hardships.

Gary is currently retired and lives in Waldport, Oregon.