Born in Chicago of Catholic and Jewish heritage, Bruce Boston grew up in suburban Los Angeles in an era of nuclear testing, drop drills, rock and roll, and the space race. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, at the height of the turbulent sixties, where he was active in political protest and psychedelic exploration. His poems began appearing in print when he was an undergraduate, and his fiction soon followed. Boston’s occupations have included college professor, computer programmer, book designer, movie projectionist, book buyer, furniture mover, technical writer, retail clerk, warehouseman, and gardener. In 1999 the Science Fiction Poetry Association honored him with the first Grand Master Award in its then-22-year history. He lives in Ocala, Florida, City of Trees, with his wife, writer-artist Margaret Ballif Simon. Volume 2 of Bruce Boston: Short Stories contains Asimov's Reader's Choice Award Winner, Rhysling Award Winner and Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot Nominee "Sensuous Debris: Selected Poems 1970-1995" and more excellent short works, spanning the science fiction, horrorh, humor, fantasy, dark fantasy, mystery/crime, and mainstream genres.