Terry Goodkind (1948-2020) was a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include the multi-volume epic fantasy Sword of Truth series--beginning with Wizard's First Rule--and related series Richard and Kahlan and The Nicci Chronicles.

Goodkind was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended art school. Alongside a career in wildlife art, he was also a cabinetmaker and a violin maker, and did restoration work on rare and exotic artifacts from around the world. In the 1990s he relocated to Nevada, where, when not writing novels, he was a racing-car enthusiast.