Jim Harrison was born December 11, 1937 in Grayling, Mich. to Winfield and Norma Harrison. After receiving his B.A. from Michigan State University in 1960 and his M.A. from the same school in 1964, Harrison briefly taught English at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Legends of the Fall, written in 1979, was Harrison's first major work of fiction. Published as a set of three novellas, entitled Revenge, The Man Who Gave Up His Last Name, and Legends of the Fall, the trilogy explores the theme of revenge and the effect it has on all of those involved. In 1994, Harrison wrote the screenplay based on the novella Legends of the Fall for a feature film starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt. The epic western saga, told amidst the backdrop of World War I, details the lives of three brothers who are in love with the same woman. Another of Harrison's novels, Dalva, was adapted as a made-for-television movie featuring Rod Steiger and Farrah Fawcett in the lead roles. Besides writing numerous novels and screenplays, Harrison has contributed poems to numerous anthologies, and has also written stories, articles, reviews, and poems for various publications.