Dennis L. McKiernan

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-10-30

Dennis Lester McKiernan was born on April 4, 1932, in Moberly, Missouri. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force, stationed within the United States during the Korean War, then earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri in 1958 and an M.S. from Duke University in 1964. He worked as an engineer at Western Electric and then Bell Laboratories (AT&T) from 1958 to 1989, and began writing full-time in 1989 after early retirement. In 1977 he was hit by a car while riding a motorcycle, and during his recovery he began a sequel to Tolkien's work. His publisher Doubleday asked him to move the story into a different fictional world and add a prequel, which led to the Mithgar books. He lives in Tucson, Arizona, and has written more than thirty fantasy works.