Born in Oakland, California, he served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War and attended college on the G.I. Bill. He worked as an investigative reporter for several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, and as an associate editor at New West and California. His writing has appeared in many other periodicals, such as Smithsonian Magazine ("Cook vs. Peary", April 2009), Esquire, and Playboy.