Sudden Light (Stein)

Author Bio
• Birth—December 6, 1964
• Where—Los Angeles, California, USA
• Rasied—Seattle, Washington
• Education—B.A., M.F.A., Columbia University
• Currently—lives in Seattle, Washington


Garth Stein is an American author and film producer from Seattle, Washington. Widely known as the author of the New York Times bestselling novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Stein is also a documentary film maker, playwright, teacher, and amateur racer.

Early years
Born in California, Garth Stein spent most of his childhood growing up in Seattle. His father, a Brooklyn native, was the child of Austrian Jewish immigrants, while Stein's Alaskan mother comes from Tlingit and Irish descent. Stein later revisited his Tlingit heritage in his first novel, Raven Stole the Moon.

Stein attended Columbia University, where he received a B.A. in 1987. He then stayed at Columbia to earn His M.F.A. from its School of the Arts in 1990.

Career
Stein has worked as a director, producer and/or writer of documentary films—several of which won awards. In 1991, he co-produced an Academy Award winning short film, The Lunch Date. He then co-produced The Last Party, a film account of the 1992 Democratic National Convention;  later he produced and directed When Your Head's Not a Head, It's a Nut, a documentary about his sister's brain surgery.

After films, Stein took up creative writing. At one time, he taught creative writing at Tacoma School of the Arts. His published works include three books and two plays. Brother Jones, his first play, was produced in Los Angeles in 2005. He wrote another play, No One Calls Me Mutt Anymore in 2010 for the theatrical department at his alma mater, Shorewood High School in Shoreline, WA.

The Art of Racing in the Rain
Stein's third novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain (2008) became a New York Times bestseller. The novel is told from the point of view of Enzo, a race car-obsessed dog, whose owner teaches him about the art of racing. But most of Enzo's knowledge comes from watching television, including a program about a Mongolian legend of dogs reincarnated as humans. Enzo comes to believe it is his fate, as well—to be reincarnated as a human.

Stein was inspired to write the book after viewing a documentary on Mongolia called State of Dogs and after hearing a reading of the Billy Collins poem "The Revenant," told from a dog's point of view.

The racing experience is based on Stein's own experience racing cars. Stein became involved in "high performance driver education," receiveding his racing license from the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). He won the points championship in the Northwest Region Spec Miata class in 2004 but left racing after a serious crash—while racing in the rain.

Personal life
After spending 18 years in New York City, Stein returned to Seattle where he lives with his wife, Andrea Perlbinder Stein, their three sons, and the family dog, Comet, a lab/poodle mix. While living in New York, played in a rock band, called Zero Band, that rehearsed but rarely performed. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 10/13/2014.)