Steven Vago was an integral part of the creation of an alcohol treatment program at Malcolm Bliss Hospital in St. Louis and became professor in the Department of Sociology at St. Louis University, where he taught for over 30 years. At the end of his teaching career in 2001, Professor Vago retired to Bellingham, Washington, with his wife, Kathe. Vago passed away in 2010, at the age of 73.

Steven E. Barkan is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Maine. His research and teaching interests include criminology, sociology of law, and social movements. In addition to his many publications in these areas, Professor Barkan is a past president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), served as chair of SSSP's Law and Society Division, served on the council of the American Sociological Association's Sociology of Law Section, and is a past president of the Textbook and Academic Authors Association.