Peter Benoit earned a degree in mathematics at Skidmore College. He is an educator and poet. He has written more than four dozen books for Scholastic/Children's Press on topics including disasters, Native Americans, ecosystems, the Titanic, the electoral college, and the 2012 election. He has also written several books on crucial moments in American history and books on ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Peter resides in Greenwich, New York. Cunningham studied journalism and history at the University of Illinois at Urbana.