Zu Wei comes from mainland China. He graduated from the Nanjing Institute of Architecture but found his true calling in literature. After leaving China in 1989 he settled in Paris where he is now a reporter and columnist for the United Daily News publication Europe Journal. He met Yu Yu Yang in 1993 in connection with an article about the French Contemporary International Art Fair (FIAC) 's 20th Anniversary Exhibition.
此書與其說是楊英風先生傳記，倒不如說是《楊英風藝術評傳》，作者，祖慰，來自中國大陸，南京建築工程學院畢業，卻選擇文學為志業，一九八九年離開故國後，落腳於巴黎，現任聯合報系「歐洲日報」記者及專欄作家，一九九三年因報導「法國當代國際藝術博覽會（FIAC）廿週年大展」而結識楊英風。