W. Thomas Smith, Jr. (born April 30, 1959) is an American author, editor, and journalist. He has written several books. His articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. Smith is executive editor of World Defense Review, a columnist with Townhall.com, and a former contributor to National Review Online.He also makes satirical contributions to the CRTNET emailing list for the National Communication Association.

Smith graduated from the University of South Carolina (USC) in 1982 with a BA degree in history. He then served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantry leader, parachutist, and shipboard special weapons security and counterterrorism instructor. Following his service in the Corps in 1987, he served on a para-military SWAT team in the nuclear industry. Soon thereafter, he began his career as a journalist.

Smith has written for numerous publications, including USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, The New York Post, and the UK's The Guardian. In 1998, he co-authored a George magazine feature with John F. Kennedy Jr. (Smith interviewed Gen. William C. Westmoreland in Charleston, S.C. - Kennedy interviewed Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap in Vietnam). The interviews were published together as a single piece on the Vietnam War in the November 1998 issue of George.

Thomas Knoll is an American software engineer best known (with his brother John Knoll) for initiating the development of Adobe Photoshop. He was the lead developer until version CS4, and currently contributes to work on the Camera Raw plug-in to process raw images from cameras.

Knoll was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan. He currently lives in Ann Arbor.

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.

In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop and rock artists.

Thomas Arthur Mesereau, Jr. is an American attorney at law best known for defending Michael Jackson in his 2005 child molestation trial.

Mesereau was the second lawyer for actor Robert Blake's case (not trial) over the murder of his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. Blake's first attorney Harland Braun resigned over Blake's decision to appear in a televised interview with Diane Sawyer against Braun's advice and counsel.

Mesereau and his co-counsel and law partner, Susan Yu, later withdrew from the case due to differences with Blake. After Mesereau and Yu withdrew, Blake hired another lawyer and was eventually acquitted.

In 2004, Mesereau and Susan Yu were hired to replace attorneys Mark Geragos and Ben Brafman as lead trial counsel. The trial lasted from January 2005 through June 2005. Jackson was found not guilty.

Barbara Walters named him one of the year’s "Ten Most Fascinating People".GQ Magazine named him one of its "Men of the Year".

He has been named "Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year" by the Criminal Courts Bar Association, Los Angeles and the Century City Bar Association, Los Angeles^{[citation needed]} and has been listed as one of the "One Hundred Most Influential Attorneys in California" by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.^{[citation needed]} Mesereau has also received the "Humanitarian Award" from The National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice.^{[citation needed]} Mesereau has received a "Community Service Award" from Antonio Villaraigosa, the Mayor of Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

Gerald W. Thomas is President Emeritus of New Mexico State University, a veteran of World War II, and an author.

Gerald W. Thomas was born at home on the Daniel Thomas ranch on Medicine Lodge Creek, Small, Idaho on July 3, 1919. His parents were Daniel Waylett Thomas and Mary Elizabeth Evans. Thomas was the second oldest of six sons.

Thomas attended the local Medicine Lodge school through the 11th grade, the last grade the school offered. He moved to Pasadena, California and finished high school at John Muir High School. He attended Pasadena Junior College for two years and then obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry in February, 1941, from the University of Idaho, at Moscow, Idaho.

In 1950, he enrolled in Texas A&M University, at College Station, Texas, where he obtained a MS degree in Wildlife Management in 1951 and a Ph.D in Wildlife Management in 1954 (called Range Management then).

On February 5, 1942, Thomas volunteered for the Navy. He passed his "B-check" in a N3N "Yellow Peril" at the “Elimination Base” at Los Alamitos, California, on July 2, 1942. Assigned to Naval Aviation School, Corpus Christi, Texas, he graduated with an Ensign Commission on November 27, 1942. He then received six weeks of dive-bomber training at Naval Air Station Opa-Locka, Florida.