Laurence Gonzales was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Houston and San Antonio, Texas. He is the author of numerous books, including the bestseller Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why (W.W. Norton). He has won two National Magazine Awards and the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
He has appeared as a speaker before groups ranging from the Santa Fe Institute to Legg Mason Capital Management, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His most recent book is the novel, Lucy.