William J. Burghardt is the author of two produced plays, Just Before the Snow Melts and Shadow Stock. His next book Walking Backward in My Father's Footsteps is set to be published later this year. A former journalist and theater critic, his articles and reviews have appeared in several Chicago-area publications, including The Chicago Tribune, and he is a winner of the Peter Lisagor Award for Outstanding Journalism, an honor bestowed annually by Chicago Headline club to candidates in the seven-county Chicago area. He is an actor, director, and former radio host for a theater-related program at a Chicago-area radio station.