Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946. after recieving a bachelor's degree in political science and a master of fine arts in motion pictures from UCLA in 1968-69, he worked for two years as a public relations copywriter in Studio City, California.
He sold his first short story to Arkham Collector Magazine in 1968, and other sales of short fiction soon followed. His first try at a novel, The Tar Aiym Krang, was published by Ballantine books in 1972. Since then Foster has published many short stories, novels and film novelisations.
Foster has toured extensively around the world. Besides traveling, he enjoys classical and rock music, old films, basketball, body surfing, and weight lifting. He has taught screenwriting, litrature, and film history at UCLA and Los Angeles City College.