Bruce Cook (1932-2003), veteran critic, journalist, and author, originally wrote this biography with Dalton Trumbo's full cooperation in 1976.
In his lifetime Cook wrote a total of 23 books, both fiction and nonfiction, including eleven mystery novels featuring the real-life historical figure of Sir John Fielding, magistrate of the Bow Street court during the latter half of the 18th century, and a crime fiction series featuring LA private detective Chico Cervantes. Cook's last completed novel, Young Will: The Confessions of William Shakespeare, was published posthumously.
Born in Chicago, Bruce Cook lived in Los Angeles and Paris with his wife, the violinist Judith Aller.