Ed Burns is an American novelist, writer and producer. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and was wild in his early years. This led his parents to move him and his brother Michael to the suburbs. He went to Catholic schools as a boy and graduated from Loyola College in Baltimore. He worked as a Baltimore City detective for 20 years before retiring. During his 20 years on the force, he met police reporter David Simon and the two would go on to collaborate on The Corner (2000), Sur écoute (2002) and Génération Kill (2008).