Richard Neely was born on April 18, 1916 in Manhattan's Washington Heights, New York City. Following World War II he spent time in occupied Tokyo, editing the troop information journal, Maptalk. Neely began his writing career as a newspaperman in New York City, but later switched to advertising, working his way up to creative director for such firms as Young & Rubicam, McCann-Erickson and D'Arcy. Transferred to the west coast, he moved with his family to Kentfield, California. Neely eventually took up writing full time, producing his first three novels for Ace Books in the late 1960s. He wrote 15 novels in all, three of which were turned into movies, including Shattered, based on The Plastic Nightmare. Neely died on October 4, 1999 in Marin General Hospital after a brief illness.