Michael Witwer is author of the critically acclaimed Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons. He holds degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago and has a diverse professional background that has ranged from his current position as Marketing and Proposal Director of a national healthcare services firm, to significant work in the geek and gaming markets. Through his work as an author, Michael has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered with Ari Shapiro, spoken at Google as part of its Google Talks series, and served as a featured panelist at the Boston, Miami and Cincinnati Book festivals. His book won many honors including being selected as an Amazon “Best Book of the Month” and a GeekDad “Best Book of 2015”, while his other writings have appeared on Slate.com, Tor.com, Biographile, Medium and GeekDad, where he is a regular contributor, as well as his popular blog, The Last Gen-Xer.