Catherine Prendergast is driven to uncover those hidden stories from history that seem too unbelievable to be true—but they are. A Guggenheim Fellow and Fulbright Scholar, she is author of several books, including The Gilded Edge, the tale of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Bohemian founders who died from an excess of sex and cyanide.

After growing up in New Jersey and graduating  from Columbia University, she moved to the Midwest for an academic career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she continues to hold the rank of Professor Emerita. An urge to write for a wider audience compelled her to leave academia for the life of a full-time author.

She now lives on Cape Cod—mostly in the water but when absolutely necessary, on land.