Tom Keith has long had an interest in history and is the author of A Few Days in August: A Story of Death and Survival in the Patwell Family during the Dakota Conflict of 1862, an account of the tragic events in which several members of his family were participants. He has also published several essays, including one set in the Missouri River Breaks and the discovery of a rock inscription made by J. B. LaValle, which inspired the character of the same name in this book. Beneath A Towering Sky is his first work of fiction. Keith is a principal in a planning and design firm and lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.