Mark Helprin's parents both worked in the film industry. Born in Manhattan, Helprin is a graduate of Harvard University. He is primarily an author (including Winter's Tale, 1983; Soldier of the Great War, 1991; Memoir From Antproof Case , 1995; and Digital Barbarism: A Writer's Manifesto, 2009 among others), but has also served in the Israeli Air Force, and been a journalist and speech writer. His latest novel is In Sunlight and In Shadow, 2012.