Frank M. Robinson was born in 1926. He served in the U.S. Navy during both WWII and the Korean War, in between earning a B.S. in physics at Beloit College, Wisconsin, and afterward an M.S. in journalism at Northwestern University in 1955. He then worked at a number of magazines, including "Science Digest" (1956-59), "Rogue" (1959-65), and "Cavalier" (1965-66). After working as a staff writer for "Playboy" from 1969 to 1973, Robinson became a freelance writer. He now lives in San Francisco, California, and is the co-author of "Death of a Marionette,"