Frank P. Riga was born in Buffalo, New York, to immigrant parents. Now retired, he taught in the English Department of Canisius College where he also directed the Graduate Scholarship Office. His area of specialty was nineteenth century British literature, but he also taught courses in Shakespeare and children's literature. His articles appear in several scholarly journals and include essays on Shakespeare, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jean Rhys and others. His library reference book, The Index to the London Magazine, appeared in 1977. A few of his poems and short fictions have been published in several periodicals and collections. He is particularly pleased with his articles on Christmas traditions, which include Santa Clause, La Befana, the Magi, and the cr�che. When he began writing Beppo, his intention was to write a fictive biography of the real-life vedettist, Giuseppe Musolino, but by the end of the first ten pages of composition, the novel took over and told him the story he was to write.