John Fante was born in Colorado in 1909.

He began writing in 1929 and was first published in 'The American Mercury' in 1932. His first novel, 'Wait Until Spring, Bandini', was published in 1938. The following year 'Ask The Dust' appeared. In 1940 a collection of his short stories, 'Dago Red', was published.

Meanwhile, Fante had become occupied extensively in screenwriting. Some of his credits include 'Full Of Life', 'Jeanna Eagels', 'My Man and I', 'The Reluctant Saint', 'Something for a Lonely Man', 'My Six Loves' and 'Walk On the Wild Side'.

John Fante was stricken with diabetes in 1955 and its complications brought about his blindness in 1978, but he continued to write by dictation to his wife, Joyce, and the result was 'Dreams from Bunker Hill'. He died at the age of 74 on May 8, 1983.