Curtis Crockett grew up near Detroit, Michigan, where he devoured the books of fellow Michigander Bruce Catton, as a child. His parents nourished his fascination with the Civil War by taking the family to Gettysburg when he was ten. When his grandmother presented him with her grandfather’s discharge papers from the Union Army, his lifelong interest in the Civil War was launched. A graduate of Wayne State University, he majored in German and History. He is retired and has lived with his wife in Indian Trail, North Carolina for many years. He has two grown daughters. Curtis has published several historical articles in Civil War magazines. Leaving Gettysburg is his first work of fiction.