P.P. Pirone is Plant Pathologist Emeritus at the New York Botanical Garden. John Hartman is Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Kentucky, and an award-winning member of the International Society of Arboriculture. Thomas P. Pirone (the author's son) is Professor and former Chairman of the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Kentucky. Mary Ann Sall has a Ph.D. in Forest Pathology and was formerly a member of the faculty of the University of California, Davis.