Stuart J. Murphy was born and raised in Rockville, Connecticut. During school, he found that he loved drawing and writing fiction. In 1964, he received a B.F.A. from Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating, he became the art director of The Art Gallery Magazine for three years. He then worked as a consultant for educational publishing companies, promoting the use of both visual and verbal communication to present math concepts to children. This experience inspired him to write his own series of books, called the MathStart series. In 1992, he became a full-time writer, consultant, and lecturer. The first MathStart book, The Best Bug Parade, was published in 1996, and he has gone on to produce more than 60 more. He divides his time between Boston, Massachusetts, and Tuscany, Italy.
