David Guterson was born in 1956 in Seattle, where his father practiced criminal defense law. After receiving his master's degree from the University of Washington, where he studied writing with Charles Johnson, Guterson moved to Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound, where he taught high school English. He has said that his first novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, took ten years to finish: two years to think through, and eight to research and write. It was published in 1994. He also has stated that the novel was heavily influenced by Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.
During his time as an English teacher, Guterson began publishing stories and essays in small magazines and periodicals,...
